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Our last day dawned clear and hot. We landed on the beach and set off for a gentle stroll
along a shortish trail. We saw a pair of Galápagos hawks driving a juvenile away, but
sadly I was too busy taking photographs to watch them properly, and then completely failed
to get a decent photograph!
We saw lots of other birds, of which I've included a few photographs. There were many ground
finches feeding in amongst the rocks, which Walter said was unusual, and suggested conditions
were pretty tough inland. I gather they don't normally feed so far down the foreshore.
At the end of the trail someone spotted a brown Galápagos racer snake which was much too
fast getting under its rock for me to photograph. My notes say it was about 50cm long and rather
less than a centimetre thick.
Back at the beach the snorkelling did not proceed as smoothly as we'd have liked. I had trouble
with my fins and made a good attempt at reducing sea level while I sorted them out. Then Jen's
snorkel and mask were never right and after several attempts at fixing them, she gave up.
She'd been feeling poorly with a tummy bug for a several days and had finally got some
antibiotics from Dr Paula, but this meant her resiliance when things didn't go perfectly was
lower than usual.
I carried on alone and it was definitely worth it, though most of what I saw was familiar from
previous excursions. The prize, however, was a turtle which swam slowly by me. Having got
covered with black, volcanic sand as I got out, I dumped my snorkelling kit and went back in
for a dip. It was lovely just floating there, the high salinity making just drifting on my back
really easy.
After lunch I started to feel less than perfect, so took to my bed for the afternoon while Jenny
joined the others climbing the 365 steps to the summit of Bartholome. I didn't wait as long as
Jenny to get the medication, not wanting to suffer the symptoms while flying home!
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