Day 27: Wetsuits Save Lives

Sunrises are beautiful, but sleep is better (sometimes). Bright and early in the morning Group 2 set off for some snorkeling at Los Túneles! Or so we thought. After our 40 minute boat ride to Los Túneles we found out we weren’t allowed to go in that day. It all worked out though and we ended up snorkeling nearby.

The boat ride wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. It was a little choppy, but nothing like the boat ride to Isabela. On our way to Los Túneles we finally saw some blue footed boobies! They were chilling on a very photogenic rock which we circled for some photos.

The photogenic rock

Before we started snorkeling we first went for a small hike along rocks. We saw a bunch of cactuses living symbiotically with lichen and a ton of crabs. Whenever you get close to a crab it will crawl away and hide in the crevices of the rocks. They’re so silly.

After our hike we suited up into our wetsuits and hopped out of the boat one by one into the chilly water. Thank goodness for the wetsuits otherwise we probably would have ended up as human popsicles. We saw a bunch of sea creatures from turtles to seahorses to sharks and loads and loads of fish. The turtles are not afraid of people at all. They will swim up to you, next to you and really pop your personal bubble which if you think about it isn’t the worst thing in the world. We were all popping each others personal bubbles anyways with our clumsy flippers.

On the way back to our hotel we sang a bunch of songs on the boat with our guide Juan Carlos. The ride back felt a million times shorter with our self-made music even though we were soaking wet.

When we got back everyone parted ways to do whatever needed to be done. I went for a walk along the beach and watched waves wash up against the shore. It’s hard to be productive on the Galapagos. All I wanted to do was sit on the beach and ponder life all day.