Dan Suzio Photography: Galápagos Diary, Day 14

Day 14, April 25: Red sand, a mockingbird pedicure, and lizard sex

Our last full day in Galápagos started on a beautiful red sand beach on Rábida Island. The sand felt great on my bare feet, except for the sharp pebbles that seemed to appear when I least expected them.

Rábida Island

As I walked along the sand a very friendly mockingbird arrived and gave me a pedicure, and shortly after I shot a few R-rated photos of lava lizards. Just a normal day in Galápagos.

Mockingbird pedicure

Can we have a little privacy here?

There was a small population of marine iguanas here, and we got some nice photos of them on the rocks and in the water. Tui mentioned that our group seems especially committed to the belief that every iguana must be photographed, to which one person replied, “What’s your point?” It wasn’t me who said that but it could have been. Iguanas are pretty special animals, and if you’re patient they will usually give you a photogenic pose.

Marine Iguana emerging from the water

Feeding at low tide

Finding a good basking spot

Waiting for his ship to come in

After lunch we had our final snorkeling session. Soon after I jumped into the water I saw something zoom past me and circle back around. It was a penguin! I swam in circles for the next several minutes as I watched it chasing and catching small fish. At one point it came up for air right next to me, so I came up as well. For a second or two we were face to face, just inches apart, and then it was back to chasing fish. It doesn’t seem fair to call penguins flightless after seeing how skillfully they use their wings underwater. (And again, I'm definitely not an underwater photographer. Yet.)

Galápagos Penguin

In the evening we were joined by the crew for a farewell drink. Tui made a short speech, in English and again in Spanish, thanking them for their amazing effort, and handed the captain a fat envelope containing our pooled tips, which will be divided equally among the seven of them.

After dinner we watched a 20-minute video that Monica made, showing the highlights of each day of the trip. It was at times funny, beautiful, hokey, and very sweet. We will all receive copies of it.