Day 2: Snorkeling and Sea Lions

We got up early this morning to fly to the Galapagos! On San Cristobal Island, we met two national park guides, Christopher and Maritza, who led us during our time on the islands. In addition to these guides, we were assigned a naturalist who was an expert on each island we visited. We had lunch — delicious fish — and then took a 15 minute bus ride to go snorkeling.

The water was pretty warm and very clear. We got to see sea turtles, sea lions, sea stars, and lots of colorful fish. We were able to get very close to the animals and it was definitely a highlight of the trip. After that we headed to a beach where there were tons of sea lions. They didn’t move when you got close, and it was very easy to accidentally walk right into them. Some very loudly let you know they didn’t like that!

The sea lions in Galapagos originally came from California and the two types are related. However, Galapagos sea lions are now considered their own species. In the evening we ate at a sushi bar and then had some free time to walk around the town, where we got to do some souvenir shopping.