Hawks and Flamingos

Day 6: Rabida Island, Santiago Island; Sullivan Bay

Beautiful still water surrounded the yatch when we awoke.  The delicate little storm petrels were busy fishing around us.  My nickname for them was 'Tip-toe birds' as they gracefully hover just above  the water, reaching down with their claws to pick out food.

Rabida Island has very red sand, thanks to the iron content.  The walk took us down the beach, then slightly inland to a lagoon.

Two Galapagos hawks flew close to us, one we could see very well; he circled over us then swooped to make a kill in the trees on the far side of the lagoon.

Beautiful and somewhat reclusive flamingos.  They originally migrated from the Carribean, but now live only on the islands.

The whole group

Night heron

The snorkelling in the bay was lovely, with many of the schools of little fish, but by this time we were a little blase about mere fish and sea turtles.  As we swum back to the yatch what should appear out of the deep blue but a good size Galapagos shark.  He swum up to us, checked us out, then disappeared again.  We hung in the water and were rewarded for our patience by seeing him a few more times.

The landing at Sullivan Bay was onto more lava, but this time there was very little living in such a harsh place.  Eventually it will weather more and there will be somewhere for more things to live.

The lava has Hawaiian names: pahoehoe - meaning smooth, unbroken lava, and a'a - meaning stoney rough lava.

That evening it was time to relax and enjoy the sunset, knowing that we had a long and bumpy crossing ahead of us.