Day 3 at the Galapagos. Early this morning while we were sleeping the boat we headed to Espanola (Island) with plans for this morning at Point Suarez and in the afternoon on the beach at Gardner Bay...

We made a quick getaway after breakfast in an attempt to get onto the island ahead of other groups from boats moored nearby (see pic) and a big group coming in on a day trip . A dry landing onto shore with a very rocky walk for about 2.5 hours ahead of us. The first part was along a small beach with sea lions and one who had just given birth. The pup had the umbilical cord attached and the mother had part of the after birth attached still. Clearly the pup wanted to feed while the mother was trying to get it to the water (to wash it, we were told). Later in the morning we came back to the same beach and noticed more of the afterbirth near the mother and pup, who were pleasingly at the waters edge with the pup feeding.

Our walk took us first of all past many marine iguanas (usually black but at present the males have green and red colours as part of preparation for attracting a female and mating). We also saw many birds, the ubiquitous terns, galapagos gulls and finches. At the far side of the island we observed a lovely piece of coast with quite big waves pounding in, sea lions in and out of the water and iguanas on the rocks with the sea lions . There is so much to see and it is so amazingly close that it is difficult to limit a days worth of photos to a reasonable number. I neglected to bring an additional card for my camera so I am being very conservative with my shots. Each night I do some editing and deleting multiple shots of the same thing and fortunately before leaving Quito had moved many shots from the first few days of my time in Santiago and Quito to my iPad so that I could add them for your information, so I think all will be well with photo storage space.

We were on a quest initially for nests of the Nasta Boobie - having seen some blue footed boobies yesterday and apparently some of the red footed to come tomorrow. We were not disappointed and found many nests with a parent looking after an egg, an egg + a baby and 2 babies of different sizes. They apparently lay up to 3 eggs about a week + apart and as the chicks grow one will kill the other one and thus survive. We saw all sorts of combinations of eggs and young in the nests at very close quarters (none of my shots were taken from far away) and once even saw a parental change over when one parent arrived fresh from fishing and the other took off . Iguanas all over too (see some of my shots - I have heaps more).

We also were on the lookout for the Wave Albatross. Apparently they have usually finished the mating, nesting and heading out to roan the ocean by December at the very latest. However this year there are a few late stragglers and we saw 4 juveniles and one quite young one still with brown plumage, these birds return to the Galapagos to find a mate and raise their babies every 2 years (with half of the total population one year, half the next). When the young leave the island (the only island in the world where they reproduce) they remain at sea for 5 years while they fully mature, and then return to the island to mate.

There is an area that we walked past that the locals call 'the airport', which is a high cliff where the Albatros, who are very clumsy on land, stand and then launch themselves into their takeoff by jumping off the cliff. We didn't see this sadly, just several young birds on the ground . We also saw some abandoned eggs - which Mauricio said has been more common this year than is usual. No-one is sure why.

A longish walk then around part of the island seeing many lava lizards (like miniature iguanas) including some in their mating colours, iguanas, sea lotions, boobies and heaps of the other birds like terns, gulls, finches.

Back onto the boat, the obligatory juice and snack on arrival, an optional swim with not many takers as the day hasn't been hot so far and the water is cool, then a pleasant hour and a bit motoring to our next mooring at a different part of the island. Then 12.00 lunch before 2.15 snorkelling.

Another aside is about Mauricio, who runs the tours and life on board, is an Ecuadorian who I jp have heard has served time in the military and runs our day very smoothly like clockwork. 6.30 he greets us to start the day (via the PA system) and reminds us about 7 .00 breakfast. We will have heard all about the details of the day's activities at the previous evening's briefing, which is also detailed on a whiteboard in the dining area (which is adjacent to where all of our activities start and finish) in case we forget where and when we should be somewhere and how we need to prepare. The system works very well.

Whoops, I must go as its lunchtime and I can't be late. ..

After lunch we kitted up into wet suits and grabbed our room numbered bag containing the flippers, mask and snorkel for a relatively long (compared to previous drops) trip in the zodiac out to a small island with steep cliffs (see pic of me in my gear - a well used wet suit with cuts and scrapes in key points, but not an issue for me being one of the least adventuresome snorkel people in Ecuador today, though the ease with which snorkelling is possible has me cursing that my many years with so much time spent at the coast has not included snorkelling - Lilli Pilli in particular, which I believe has heaps of attractive snorkelling spots within easy reach - I will definitely add snorkelling to my 'look more into this soon / in 2015' list) .(aligned with improving my rudimentary Spanish in preparation for more trips to South America and possibly Spain).

We started off in a fairly shallow area and as we went around the island, the cliffs got steeper and the water deeper. I saw masses of fish, large, small and tiny. In the hour the highlights were huge schools of small fish - small sardine sized ones displaying lovely swarm behaviour, and two sea lions who were playing with a puffer fish. Many of you will know that I have quite an aversion to / hate for and a constant reminder of the dangerous nature of these fish, but the sea lions used it like a couple of teenagers would use a soccer ball - in 3 dimensions. One would grab it, take it down 4-5 metres and let it go, circle around it and then the other one would grab the fish, dash off with it and repeat the play. And it went on and on for so long that we left them to it and moved on.

The hours worth of snorkelling left me exhausted but exhilarated and when the time was up I was more than happy to slither into the zodiac, take off my pinching mask and relax for the trip back to QB .

Another quick change and we went in the other direction to a beautiful, long beach with stunning aqua coloured water where we were free to swim, snorkel, walk (within boundaries, under instruction and the keen eye of sergeant Mauricio). I chose to walk the length of the beach and then a relax with my iPad and a trashy novel on my iPad. Notable though on my walk up the beach (about a km) was walking around two groups of sea lions and noticing a solitary one wallowing in the shallows, seeming to delight in being rolled over in the waves and then scooting off into the shallow water, then repeat the whole thing. As I walked along the beach the sea lion kept pace with me and watching it was quite a trip highlight. I will try to remember to take my iPad next time we encounter sea lions and take a video as one of my fellow travellers did, of this character and his video is excellent.

I rested, read and listened for a relaxing 3/4 hour (which was sadly disturbed by some other groups of tourists invading 'our' beach - forcing me to wonder why, with a huge beach to share, did two groups of yanks have to park themselves right near me? (It would not be done in Australia) before we headed back to the boat.

Showers, briefing for tomorrow and dinner. Each element excellent and great company now that we are getting to know each other. Sadly all but 5 out of our 15-strong group will leave on Sunday. I am delighted to have 4 more nights after tonight on board and am sure I will find it a wrench to leave now that I am totally into the groove here.

Tomorrow We have a 5.30 wake up, 6am departure and a very full day so a reasonable nights sleep is important - all will become clear in the next instalment. But before then I will spend some time on the foredeck with my iPod recharging my cranial batteries - last night the stars were amazing - the Milky Way looks so close and full that it looks touchable. And gazing into the depths of the stars does make my mind freewheel .........