Thursday, March 21, 2013

Day Six


Today we took a much shorter ride to Sante Fe Island.  Sante Fe was all about the snorkeling.  Colorful fish by the thousands in crystal clear water.  The variety and of life was amazing, but nothing could top the thrill of swimming with sea lions.  They came out of nowhere, anxious to find someone who was willing to play with them.  They zipped in and out of the groups of students.  A pair chose me as their personal playmate.  I spent five minutes with the pair, spinning and doing somersaults.   It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.  Their bodies were at times inches from mine.  Once we were all worn out from snorkeling, we took a cruise along the shoreline and saw more sea lions and bird life.










Here is a link to a short video I took during one of the encounters:


We returned to Sante Fe for lunch and then hiked to Tortuga Bay for some fun on the beach and, of course, more snorkeling.  On the hike we saw a variety of wildlife and were able to track sea turtles through the sand to see where they had laid their eggs the night before.  I had the opportunity to swim with a six foot white tipped reef shark:

We wrapped up the day with dinner on the town.  My group enjoyed a delicious meal at the Grill Del Mar with pork, beef, shrimp and sausage.  The girls enjoyed getting dressed up to go out on the time.
Sadly, we leave these incredible islands tomorrow and make our way back to Quito.  We still have adventures ahead, but our lives have been forever changed by what we have experienced during the past week.






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