Friday - Tortuga Negra, Santa Cruz

Tortuga Negra (Black Turtle Cove)
This morning we all got up early and piled in the pangas for the final Galapagos Adventure. We were going to ride through the mangroves at Black Turtle Cove and not have any landing. I wondered how it was going to be different than the panga ride through the mangrove at Elizabeth Bay, and thought this was probably a wasted day.

I couldn't have been more wrong! One of the first things we saw was an early morning feeding frenzy of blue footed boobies. There were 100s of them - maybe 1000s!! They moved as an entire flock, then dive bombed the water. After a minute or two, the flock would fly to another nearby area of the cove, and dive again. Watching the blue footed boobies dive is amazing. They pull their wings in close to their body and dive straight down, like a torpedo or bullet. A few times I nearly had to duck as the flock flew over us, and I was hit more than once with the water from their splash. Being caught in this swirling mass of diving boobies was one of the highlights of the trip!



As the sun came further up, the flock of boobies broke up, with a few remaining in the area, but many heading far out of our sight. We then continued through the mangroves, spotting lots of animal life under the water. One person on the other panga spotted a sea horse. We all tried to crowd around and see it, but I never got a good look at it.



Also under the surface of the water were lots of sea turtles, white tipped reef sharks, a couple of sting rays, and more impressively, a large group of golden cownose rays! They were absolutely beautiful as the glided through the water. I was really happy that I brought my polarizing filter with me!

As we slowly paddled through the cove, I spotted a few pelicans. One of them happened to be sitting on a nest with a chick. I don't think I've seen a pelican chick before, so this was a special goodbye treat.

After about an hour and half, it was back to the Beluga for breakfast and to make one last pass at my cabin to make sure everything was packed. Then we climbed into the panga one last time for our final trip to shore. I must say, I'm not going to miss having to get in and out of the panga!

Once on shore, we waited for the bus to pick us up for the airport, and the crew followed with our bags. We checked our bags at the airport, got a special Galapagos Island stamp in the passport, and had about an hour to shop for trinkets before heading back to Quito.

What a great trip!!