NORTH SEYMOUR ISLAND, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

There are tour / travel agencies everywhere along the main drag in Puerto Ayora. We stopped at Albatross Tours and booked ourselves 2 yacht excursions. The first one to North Seymour Island, and the next one to Bartolome Island for $570 for both tours for 2 ppl. So today was the North Seymour excursion. A bus picked us up at our hotel and drove us across the island, through the highlands, to the opposite side, where our yacht awaited us (about 1hr of driving). We took a zodiac to our yacht and set sail. The island was approx 1hr away. Its teeny tiny, all black lava rocks, cactus trees and incense trees. This island is a birdwatcher's paradise!


I cant remember what type of frigate bird this is, but the tree its sitting in is an Incense Tree. These are the trees the incense sticks that you burn are made from.

Magnificent Frigate Birds were everywhere! I was hoping to see just 1 with his chest puffed out, but there were tons of them! The best part about these protected islands is how tame the wildlife is. The birds did not fly away. You could walk right up to them and they'd just look at you. They have absolutely no fear of humans! Its quite astounding actually!


Again, not sure what type of frigate bird this is. Sorry There were just too many types of birds to keep track of! If you are big into labeling your photos correctly, I recommend bringing a small notepad to write down their names.

There were a few Yellow Land Iguanas and little Lava Lizards as well.

We only saw 2 Blue Footed Boobies up close, and a few Masked Boobies too far away to get a photo.



Theres no beach here, just endless amount of black lava rock!


Blue Footed Boobie on the lava rocks

And amongst those lava rocks are sea lions! Baby sea lions! SO CUTE! Also, marine iguanas are camoflauged nicely in the rocks.




Sleepy sea lions



Young Sally Light Foot Crabs ... when they are young they are black, as they age they get more colorful.

After about an hour long guided tour, we got back on the yacht. Our next stop was Las Bachas Beach, which is actually on the northern part of Santa Cruz Island. Dont let the clouds fool you, it was HOT! Lunch was served onboard as we sailed to the beach.


A Blue Heron I believe ???


A colorful adult Sally Lightfoot Crab.



After a bit of snorkeling at this beach we headed back to the marina for our bus ride back to our hotel.