Commodore
February 23, 2023

Thursday 23 February – Tintoreros Tour

Rowan opted to stay on the boat and have a day sorting things out while we were all off the boat. The rest of the us all went on the Tintoreros tour in the hope of seeing the Galapagos penguins. We started with a snorkel in an area not far from where we are anchored, you can only go with a guide, which is a good thing as it really protects the environment, which means the wild life is so relaxed. We had a good snorkel with loads of fish of varying sizes and loads of turtles, along with some amazingly coloured starfish. A few of our group spotted an octopus that cavorted around changing colours and melted over rocks in a very clever disguise. A first for Phoebe so see an octopus while snorkelling. There were a lot of large turtles just resting on the bottom, lying quite still which was interesting.

Sadly the penguins are currently elsewhere, it has to be colder for them to come back here apparently. We went further along the coastline and got out for a walk along the lava. There were loads of iguanas nesting all along the footpath, in the few sandy spots. We then came to this incredible lava channel and inside it was full of sharks. They are cold blooded so love coming to this warmer area, but as it is currently soo hot the water must have been extremely hot, I wonder if something else encourages them here. Obviously it is a place for them to rest as it is very protected but the creatures here in the Galapagos feel so unthreatened it is hard to think they are seeking refuge here.

The lava here was also fascinating as it is covered in a white lichen which is fed by the moisture on the wind, it is only white on the side facing the wind.

The area we snorkelled in was in the far distance – surrounded by lava, it was safely away from all boats

Penguins favourite spot apparently

Black dot is an Iguana swimming

White lichen on the lava

The lichen that creates the matter for plant life to grown on, like a pioneer species

The lava channel with relaxing sharks

The water looks very hot and pretty stagnant

The lava channel goes out to the bay

Gorgeous water colours

We headed back to PolePole afterwards and had a restful afternoon. This was our last afternoon to do any exploring as tomorrow is our last day here, we are off to Santa Cruz on Saturday. We decided to go to the National park that has wonderful pathways along the beach, and into some mangrove lagoons. We caught a taxi there getting there at 5pm, we had an hour to explore as they close at 6pm. Some of the paths were closed because of the nesting iguanas. It was an amazing walk through the harsh cactus vegetation. We caught some young enthusiastic photographers down at a closed beach who were getting way to close to the nesting iguanas! We were out by 6pm and decided to walk back into town along the beach . It was a magnificent sunset walk, a highlight was seeing a couple of rare Lava Gulls having a very sweet sunset courtship.

We finally got to the Pink Iguana bar which was heaving with youngsters, all reopened now that the carnival is over. There was a slack line erected, that Dani, Megan and Han were trying to do. Megan definitely had the most staying power! We had very good burgers at the food shed there and finally made our way back to the boat. We were all very pleased we had made the effort to go out.