Our Great Adventure: Leon Dormido / Isla San Cristobal Day 290 05/07/2015

Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock or Sea Lion Rock depending on which way you look at it) is two vertical rocks rising 500 feet from the ocean with a small channel between the two. After breakfast we changed into our snorkelling gear and headed out to the rocks in the dingies. The water was very choppy as we jumped/slide in off the boats. Klas spotted a Galapagos green sea turtle almost immediately and we swam over to see it gracefully swimming through the water. The adults are huge, weighing up to 150kg and reaching 1m in length. Unfortunately Luis, from Puerto Rico, got in a bit of a mess and ended up on the rocks, grazing his legs quite badly. Luckily the dingy was near by and came to his rescue. We swam along towards the channel between the rocks where white and black tipped and Galapagos sharks were swimming in the shallower waters. It was quite an unnerving sight at first but we were soon joined by several sea turtles which took our minds off the sharks. We swam all the way through the channel seeing more sharks, huge sea turtles and numerous fish including the long cornet fish in the clear waters. More effort was needed to swim back through the channel against the current but we were rewarded by being joined by a group of sea lions, frolicking in the waters appearing to be completely oblivious to us being in the water with them. Despite wearing wet suits (although they were only 3/4) we were both stung by jelly fish along with Klas who got one down his top, but luckily not too badly and the rashes soon disappeared. Everybody was exhilarated by the experience of swimming with sharks and sea turtles and we were all a little disappointed to get in the dingies and head to back to the boat. After drying off we headed to Isla San Cristobal, the easternmost island in the archipelago with Witch Hill a volcanic cone looking out over a beautiful white sandy beach. We had some free time to wander along the beach watching the sea lions, pelicans, American oyster catches, blue footed boobies and marine iguanas along the shore. The only thing to slightly damped the beauty of the setting was horrid biting horse flies. We also had chance to snorkel off the beach and peering underwater we were mesmerised by the variety and colour of the fish among the coral reefs. Back onboard the boat we sailed to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno where we anchored in the harbour and had lunch. We were waiting for our final 2 passengers to join us, Dena and Stephen both from the UK and on honeymoon. After lunch we got the dingies to the port and a short bus ride to El Junco, a fresh water lagoon 700m above sea level which apparently affords great views across the island and out to sea. Unfortunately it was misty and we couldn't see much but we still enjoyed the stroll around the lagoon. We had some free time in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, which was very quiet but it was Sunday afternoon, before heading back to the boat for dinner. The stars were particularly bright at night and we lay watching star gazing from the sun deck as we sailed towards Isla Espanola (Hood), still buzzing after our morning snorkelling adventure with sharks, sea turtles and sea lions.