Monday (March 17) Red Beach or Rabida (Jervis Island) -- hiking, snorkel problems, injury, glass bottom boat

This was not one of my better days, and I have no photos, yet. I'm at a loss as to what happened, other than I might have left my camera in the ship when we embarked.

We had a wet landing (meaning it was one of the few times we stepped right onto the beach with possible wet feet). The entire island was red, due to the high iron content of he rocks. We walked (Gabriel was guide) along the beach, then climbed to high ground with great views of the island and the ocean. On the walk we saw plenty of marine iguanas, mockingbirds, yellow warblers, finches (and Darwin's finches), and unusual cacti.

When we finished the hike, we snorkeled from the rocky beach, and I had problems with snorkel gear, got battered by the waves (cutting my foot in several places), and learned that my snorkel mask was broken beyond repair. I got stung by a jellyfish, but not before I saw some beautiful fish, manta rays, and had a close encounter with a pelican. Mary swam instead of snorkeling, due to foot problems.

                        

Carolyn and Ashley did the glass bottom boat, and saw loads of sharks and starfish -- said that it was almost as good as snorkeling.

Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) (Santa Cruz Island) more details coming

                                rough water embarcation

                                tough climb over lava rocks

                                mockingbirds

                                yellow land iguanas

                                flamingos

                                artic migrant

                                unusual cacti

I dealt with office conflict issues -- all day on email -- when I could get back to the ship. Not fun.