Rabida has an unusual red beach. The lava that originally built the island was rich in iron. This oxidises to form rust as it is being ground into sand by the sea and hence a rusty red beach. While not unique it is one of only a handful worldwide. Rabida also has flamingos. They are pink. Nothing to do with the rust but because they metabolise the carotenoids found in the algae and brine shrimp. Carotenoids are a natural pigment found in many plants. They make carrots, and occasionally my baby sister, orange. They also make tomatoes red and salmon pink. We had seen some pink flamingos earlier but I had yet to get any worthwhile photographs of them. I was on a bit of a mission. The beach traps a small brackish lake which is where the flamingos hang out munching on the shrimp. They took almost no notice of me at all so the photographs were easy.
There is a nice little circular walk on the island. Takes you up on top of some cliffs overlooking the beach. Past many prickly pear cactus plants. I tried eating a prickly pear once. Many years ago, when I was still young and daft. Carefully peeled the skin off with a knife while wearing a pair of gloves. Still ended up with my tongue covered in prickles. Nasty short thin prickles that break off in your skin and then stick out a tiny amount. Really, really annoying for days. Given them a wide berth ever since.
There are nine different species of Darwin’s finches on Rabida. I saw a few but only managed to photograph one. We also saw a mockingbird, a dove, a pelican and handful of young ducks on the pond that google claims to be white-cheeked pintail.
In afternoon we visited Bartolomé Island. This is one of the younger islands in the archipelago and its volcanic heritage is very clear. A wooden walkway has been built up to the summit where there are some excellent views. First problem was getting past the fur seal on the path. I tried a hard stare, Padding Bear style, and that seemed to help. The path makes crossing the rough lava much easier. It leads you past a couple of smaller cones before turning up towards the top of the main cone. Diane counted exactly how many steps there were to the top. She likes doing things like that. Sadly, she has now forgotten how many steps there were – but it was quite a few. On the way back down, I watched several blue footed boobies fishing. They would typically start their dive from 30 m up. How they can spot a fish from up there is beyond me. The dive was always an all-in, total commitment thing so they hit the water like little missiles.
We got back into the RHIB and had a short cruise. There were rumours of a Galapagos penguin colony but we just found an individual bird. Plenty of fur seals though.
