From my email outbox:
Hi all–We did the island tour extreme Saturday, including a brisk one mile hike up to a crater lake (El Junco) and a meander through a giant tortoise sanctuary. We saw a bunch of three-week old tortoises, soooo cute. One five-incher managed to tip himself over trying to climb up a stone. I wanted to help put him right side up but of course I’m not allowed to touch him. He soon did it himself.
That was this afternoon. We spent the morning sailing around to some nearby islands–or should I say some nearby rocks–and snorkeling there. Lots of fish, the boobies and frigatebirds won´t go hungry! At Isla Lobos, a bunch of young sea lions came over to play with us. One tickled my foot with his whiskers and another peered into my mask from about an inch away. We´d been told they wouldn’t hurt us, and indeed they didn’t.
Later, after I got out of the water, one moved on from playing around the boat to jumping up onto the back flat part by the engine. I guess my foot must smell better than I knew, because he also wanted to tickle it with his whiskers. Then he hung around until someone shooed him away. Yes, I have photos.
Wish you biologists were here to tell us more about all the plants and birds and animals, and that all of you were here just for the heck of it. Send me email, I miss you!
Love and xxx
Mom