During the night we cruised a choppy sea four hours to Espanola Island. I just couldn’t get to sleep until we dropped anchor about 2:15 A.M. We ate breakfast at 6:00 and left for a 2-hour hike at 6:30. We were the only people on the island because we had started two hours earlier than groups on the other four ships anchored here.
We saw nesting Albatross and Nazca Boobies. We saw some newly born sea lions where the placenta was being eaten by some Mockingbirds. We saw a land snake between some rocks. The scenery was beautiful with the black lava rocks touching the water. There was a spectacular blow hole spouting water every few seconds at the shore. It was no fun walking around the island on the large rocks everywhere. Just as we were getting close to the boat landing, three other groups passed us. I am sure we had a much better experience seeing the animals just as they were waking up.
I took the opportunity to rest for a while before lunch. When I went upstairs, Juan and a couple of crew members were chatting. I joined them when Juan wanted more ventriloquism instruction. Next, the cook gave us a surprise demo on how to make ceviche. He chopped up some white fish, tomatoes, red onion, and green pepper. He put the fish in a bowl and covered it with about 1/4 cup lime juice. He added some salt. After setting a few minutes, the lime juice had cooked the fish. Then the other ingredients were mixed in.
We sat down for lunch, and we each had a bowl of ceviche to begin the meal. Then we had cut-up marinated chicken thighs, rice, guacamole, Ecuadorian hot sauce, and a potato-like vegetable cooked like fries. Dessert was something like three cream cake. It is popular in Spanish-speaking countries.
We as a group decided to change the afternoon schedule so the ship could start its 5-hour trip to the next island early during daylight. Most had not slept well last night. Some of us tried kayaking on flat-topped 2-person kayaks. I could not get comfortable and didn’t like it at all. Paul didn’t care whether we continued or turned around, so we went back to the ship. After everyone had had a chance to kayak, we went snorkeling among the sea lion cubs. Now the ship is moving to the next island.
. Placenta
. Blowhole