North Seymour & Rábida Islands
North Seymour is located in the central part of the Galápagos; therefore this small rocky island is a paradise for seabirds and marine mammals like sea lions as well as reptiles.
Today we visited North Seymour Island in two ways: early in the morning for photographers and later for the explorers who wanted a more relaxed schedule. For the early risers the light was just perfecto for their photo assignments and throughout the hike there were lots and lots of photo opportunities.
This is the end of the rainy season and the sea is turning a little colder. This change makes the water more productive, directly benefiting the Galápagos fauna that depend on the sea for their sustenance, especially the seabirds.
I’m certain that today our guests all came away with the best images of the breeding frigatebirds. Male frigatebirds show their red pouches in this season to attract mates. All of them perch on top of the trees, while blue-footed boobies stay on the ground. North Seymour Island hosts a large colony of blue-footed boobies. Today we saw only the early ones; the first arrivals. Later in the month we will see hundreds of these birds starting their courtships everywhere and some blue-footed boobies will be nesting on the trail!
Snorkeling is certainly is a highlight in the Galápagos and right after the walk we all went to explore the underwater world. Here we saw myriad tropical fish, some of them large – like parrot fish, streamer hog fish and trumpet fish – just to mention a few.
In the afternoon we had another set of activities on a different island. This time we disembarked on Rábida Island for snorkeling, kayaking, glass-bottom boating and also a power walk!
Rábida Island is exceptional in the Galápagos due to the color of its land and rocks. The red cliffs and the red sand on the beach is a landscape to behold and remember.
