Day 14 - North Seymour Island/Bachas Beach

This morning we took a bus to the port where we board the Santa Fe, our privately chartered yacht for exploring the Galapagos.

The Santa Fe.

Relaxing on the Santa Fe as we head out to the islands.

Then we cruise to North Seymour, a flat, low-lying island covering 1.9 square miles just north of Santa Cruz. A true “deserted island,” North Seymour’s only inhabitants are the marine birds, land iguanas, lava lizards, and other wildlife we encounter today. On our naturalist-led walk, we see the Galapagos’ largest colony of frigate birds, a nesting colony of blue-footed boobies, and swallow-tailed gulls, among other bird life.

Blue Footed Boobies.

A male Frigat bird posturing to attract a female Frigat

After lunch aboard the Santa Fe, we head back to Santa Cruz Island, weighing anchor in the calm waters off Bachas Beach, one of the Galapagos’ primary sea turtle nesting sites.

Here we had a chance to snorkle and see the sea life up close. The water was a bit cloudy, but I was able to see parrot fish, Sargent Majors and other fish. We also found a green sea turtle. It was huge, maybe three feet from front to back. It was also very fast. We tried to follow it, but could not keep up.

Green Sea Turtle

Later we walked along the Bachas Beach. Our guide pointed out 3 more turtles off shore. We also found a pink flamingo in area behind the sand dunes. We were not allowed to walk on the S.A. dunes, because they are the nesting grounds for the turtles.

We got back to the hotel early enough to have a two hour break before dinner. It is a welcome break that allowed us to explore our hotel more, or take a nap.

Before dinner, we met with our tour guide to go over the next days activities. Robby also set up a quick chocolate tasting for us. He had three chocolate bars. One made from cocoa from the interior of Ecuador, one from the coastal area, and one from the amazon jungle. They were all very good. I may need to buy some to take home.