Galapagos: Creatures of the Sea

What surprised me most was how easily I became accustomed to walking alongside sea lions, marine iguanas, and Sally Lightfoot crabs. I continued to marvel at the crabs, all 7 days, but hardly noticed the seal lions and iguanas by the third day. Perhaps that is not as negative as it sounds; perhaps we were meant to walk with the animals, peacefully, without bothering each other. Perhaps the Galapagos is the only place where that orginal state still exists?

Alas, there were other sea creatures we observed, but not (luckily) so closely. From the ship we saw sharks, orca whales, and dolphins. From the zodiac, on our last day, returning from our last snorkeling outing, a HUGE manta ray lept out of the water to say goodbye. I was awestruck.

Snorkeling was amazing, but a *bit* chilly (67-73 degrees). We didn't have an underwater camera, so no photos, but it was much more colorful than I expected, and magical to be a part of that world.