Snorkling, Hiking, and Sharks!!!

Today we woke up bright and early at 6:00am for a hike up Bartolomé island (made famous in the movie Master and Commander). It was sooo hot, even that early, and we trekked up 375 stairs to get to the top, but what a fabulous 360 degree view! We were almost right in the middle of all the islands, so we could see a ton of them and the golden sandy beaches that we were going to explore later that day.
We headed back to the ship for breakfast and then grabbed wet suits and snokle gear and took the zodiacs back to the island. On the beach we saw the nesting sites for sea turtles! We jumped in the water and swam with beautiful fish of all sizes and colores (blue, irridecent, red, yellow, black, orange, etc...). It was incredible to just float in a huge school of fish as they changed directions, ate, and swam around you. The highlight was a huge shark that my dad and I found and it swam around only a few feet below us. We also saw sea stars, corals, and even penguins!!! One of the naturalist guides took an underwater video of the snokling too and we will get a copy at the end!
After the snorkle we had a traditional Ecuadorian lunch with a huge roasted boar head! Yum... they also had kassava bread, fruits, seafood soup, and so many other delicious dishes. Then back out to a new island for a walk along the lava shores. Here we saw the fur sea lion, a HUGE sea turtle, more iguanas (which have become so normal to us all now), finches, and lots of endemic vegitation. The incredible thing about the islands is that so much of what we are seeing can only be seen here! And each island is so unique... the landscape, the animals´ adaptations, and the temperatures. On our way back we got caught in a down pour... it was actually a welcome relief from the heat and humidity... yikes it is warm here!
Had dinner with the ship´s doctor and chief engineer. The staff is so much fun, but they want to practice their English as much as I want to practice my Spanish, so we end up doing a little of both. I also feel bad having a whole conversation in the group where only two people are able to understand :)
Reading in the hammock before bed. We were all pretty tired.