Day 4: Flamingos and Blue-Footed Boobies

Our day started with another early morning boat ride, this time from Santa Cruz to Isabela Island. It was very rough and I’m really glad I took dramamine! After we arrived, we walked to a place that is usually good for snorkeling. However, the weather was overcast and the water was choppy. It was hard to see much, but it was still fun to be in the water. After lunch, we headed to one of the few places in the Galapagos with flamingos. It was really cool to see them in the wild! Galapagos flamingos are related to those in the Caribbean Islands.
That afternoon we took a walk on the beach and some people played volleyball. My two friends and I climbed on a lookout deck overlooking the ocean. It was right by a marine iguana nesting sight, so there were tons of baby iguanas climbing around. A few of the steps at the bottom were missing so we had to climb up the side. When we got to the top, we noticed there were two blue-footed boobies standing on the rocks right below us. We had seen many boobies in the air and diving, but we were very lucky we got to see them standing. We were so excited! By the time we told the rest of the group, one of them had flown away and the other one was behind a rock.
That night after dinner, we headed to the beach to do night photography. The trip was sponsored by the photography teacher at Boulder High School, so he was excited to help us do night photography on the beach. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we couldn’t see stars, but we still had fun taking long exposure pictures.