South Plaza and Santa Fe Islands

On our third day, we landed at South Plaza in the morning and walked through the Cactus Forest, where we saw giant cacti again. There are newly planted opuntia with fences to guard them against land iguanas while they are still growing. This is a project of the Charles Darwin Foundation to preserve and grow more of these cacti. And there, at South Plaza, we met Erin the second time around!

There were yellow iguanas (land iguanas) and marine iguanas. These marine iguanas are popular with tourists for their Godzilla-like appearance. And one trivia about South Plaza, due to the proximity of land iguanas to marine iguanas, South Plaza is the only place on Earth where we can find a hybrid iguana. Still, we were not lucky enough to see one.

 
We also spotted this family of sea lions, which was an interesting sight. Oswaldo told us that it's not typical for a male sea lion (the biggest on the right) to be seen together with a female and its pup. Male sea lions are typically only found in two locations: either together with other males in a certain area of an island or on an island where they are known as bachelors. The second location is referred to as a colony and is where an alpha male is the only male you can see in a group of females and pups. So this is a rare sight to see, a family.

 
And these are swallow-tailed gulls, a mother and her baby.

 
Back in the boat, we had our lunch at the Sun Deck where our chef prepared an Ecuadorian Ceviche for us. We loved its colorful taste and consumed two bowls of it.

In the afternoon, we went to Santa Fe Island, where we were greeted by these sea lions lounging in the sand and some playing on the beach.

 
We had a snorkeling activity in Santa Fe, and we've also seen land iguanas and opuntia cacti (giant cacti).
 
And here, while we were exploring Santa Fe on the dinghy, we were fortunate to spot this school of Galapagos white-tip reef sharks, swimming in shallow waters with sea lions playing around. A healthy relationship, indeed.

 
And to add to this amazing day, we also saw this school of eagle rays swimming just beside our dingy.