Swimming with Sea Lions! June 1

This has been the most amazing day!  Definitely one that competes with Machu Picchu for sheer wonder and awe.  We boarded a small fishing boat this morning in a nearby harbor and headed out for a two-hour trip to Isla Santa Fe.  There wasn’t much to view along the way so mostly we watched the horizon for two hours and tried not to get nauseous from the fumes of the boat.

Once we finally arrived at the island, we made our way to a large, protected cove and immediately saw a line of sea lions sunning themselves on some nearby rocks.  We all scrambled for our cameras not realizing the best was yet to come.  There was quite the display of birds and sea lions as we moored the boat: blue-footed boobies, pelicans, sea lions and so much more.  We were in heaven.

Cove & island we explored

Blue-footed booby

We clambered into the dory attached to the boat and we made our way to the beach where a line of sea lions were sunning themselves.  What amazed me the most was the sea lions were totally unconcerned with our presence there.  They all ignored us and continued to laze on the beach as we walked around them taking pictures.  It was unreal.  The best part about this cove was that it served as the nursery for the baby sea lions because it was protected and the sharks couldn’t make their way in and eat the little ones.  There were babies everyone and they were utterly adorable!  There was one in particular who was very curious about us and made his way towards us.  Jaime told us to stay in place so it could better smell us.  It kept coming closer and closer until finally it scooted between my feet and continued past me.   O.M.G!  I didn’t get a picture of the actual event because I was having so much fun watching the little guy but it is definitely a memory I will always cherish.

Baby sea lion checking us out

The baby sea lion that scooted through my feet!

 Jaime then took us on a walk around the island where we saw iguana, blue-eyed doves, lizards, cactus and so much more.  It was an amazing time – but also extremely hot so when we got back to the boat, we donned our snorkeling gear and jumped into the water.  This was, hands down, the best part of the day.  We swam towards the rocks where the sea lions were hanging out and Jaime swam closer to them and somehow encouraged them to come into the water and swim near us.  Wow.  What an experience!  To be in the water with sea lions and have them frolic around us and check us out - it was an out-of-body experience.  I still can’t believe I was that close to a sea lion in the water.  

Galapagos Dove

Iguana

Beach & Cove on Santa Fe Island

After a while, we swam to another area of the cove to watch the turtles hanging out at the bottom.  I saw a sting ray as well as a lot of colorful fish that I can’t even begin to identify.  It was all so beautiful.  It felt a bit like I was in a Jacques Cousteau documentary.  It was all just magical.  That’s the only word that adequately described our time snorkeling in the cove.  I still can’t believe that I had this opportunity.  

After we reluctantly got out of the water, we had a delicious lunch the boat crew had prepared and then we headed back to the harbor, our day of bliss at an end.  We were all extremely sad to leave but the photos and memories we have of our time in the cove will keep this day alive for us for a very long time.