2014 Latin America Adventure: Day 85 - 87 Galapagos

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Photo Album: Galapagos - San Cristobal Island

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After a few days at Puerto Ayora resting and resetting, and visited Floreana Island, its time to move to my last island before heading back to the mainland.

So it was another speedboat trip of about 70 Km to the southwest of Santa Cruz Is. Before we left Puerto Ayora, I have a final encounter of the little red Encantada, must be in the harbour as part of her continuous itinerary.

The boat trip over to San Cristolal was quite rough, quite a few of the passengers were wet with sprays.

Passing Santa Fe Island

And San Cristobal Island harbour did not come too early.......

There were quite a few sea lions playing around the pier, these animals can takeover the water front here at night time.

After meeting up with Val and Fabien, my fellow travelers on Encantada and at Puerto Ayora, who were there a day earlier, we went for a walk to the Loberia Beaches on the southern side.

As we walked pass the airport, I checked with Aerogal counter to confirm my flight for Guayaquil on the mainland in 3 days time. Yep, despite all the confusions before taking off from the mainland, the flight that I booked indeed would be leaving from San Cristobal airport, despite the airport code on the tickets said GPS, which is for the airport on Baltra Island. Perfect!

Loberia Beach put on her show of sea birds and playful sea lions. We walked along sandy beaches, then some lava rocks for some distance.

Back in town, the World Cup craze is back on again, as Ecuador plays Honduras in the early evening...and the streets were again deserted, save those shops with open TV screens.

And the sea lions are making their presence felt along the harbour front.....

And they are not shy about making themselves comfortable...

And the next morning too..

After sorting out the booking for a snorkeling tour to the locally famous, "Kicker Rock" or Leon Dormido, it was time to set out for the Cerro Tijeretas Walk, along the northern coast, a short distance from town.

After finding my way to the entrance, signed in ( no fees ), I weaved my way through some concrete walk paths to the top of a hill overlooking a small bay with turquoise clear water, an idyllic spot popular for snorkeling and playing with sea lions.

And one can see Kicker Rock ( my destination for tomorrow ) in the distance..

Further from there, after descending from the hill into a lava rock laced coast. One has to scramble from rock to rock constantly, a path that is marked by the occasional white wooden marker.

And I disturbed the peace of this Pelican, so bye bye...

And Iguana claw marks

A statue of Darwin

Town center and harbour - Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Our boat left the harbor just after 9 a.m. for an adventurous trip to Kicker Rock, two volcanic rocks looking like a sleeping lion, about a 20 Km boat trip from the pier.

A Blue-footed Booby

A Frigate on the hunt

Being in the middle of the sea, the wavy water took a little to getting used to, and it was a lot calmer in the channel. Unfortunately, due to the cloudy conditions, the visibility in the water isn't good.

Nevertheless, we had some good sightings of marine lives, including some baby sharks.