Kicker Rock

After a breakfast of fresh fruit and scrambled egg this morning, we and the group left the shores of San Cristóbal island bound for 'Kicker Rock'.

Kicker Rock

Masked drivers

The formation, which we had viewed yesterday from afar while snorkelling, locally goes by the monicker 'león dormido', owing to the resemblance to a sleeping lion when viewed from a certain angle. The shape was not immediately apparent to me as we circumnavigated the towering rocks, whose faces are home to blue-footed boobies, nascar boobies and frigate birds. The males of this last species puff out the red pouch under their beaks like a balloon when in search of a mate.

Frigate bird

Blue-footed booby

Sea lion

In actual fact, the 'rock' turned out to be two - the vertical pillars rising out of the sea combine into one when viewed from the shore, and hide the channel running between them.

Channel through Kicker Rock

Donning our gear, we leapt into the now familiar chill of the water and investigated the wildlife drawn to these rocks. Schools of fish were evident in the murky depths, through which giant turtles languidly paddled and the occasional shark lithely zipped, breaking the group up briefly before it reformed.

Snorkelling around

In the water, with faces covers by masks, everyone tends to look the same. It was such confusion - and not a wayward shark - that led us and a few others to get separated from the group as we mistakenly followed a separate party back to their boat, only to find strange and bemused-looking faces when we tried to alight.

Lunch on board

Having been reunited with our own group, we took a simple lunch of rice and vegetables on the boat before motoring to a nearby beach.

The beach

We were welcomed by a solitary marine iguana, whose peaceful repose on the sand we were about to interrupt. A sea lion rolling playfully in the surf would have completed the idyllic scene, were it not for the less welcome horse flies that delivered abrupt and painful stings intermittently.

A friendly greeting

The evening saw us chew over the day's sightings with a few of the group at Miconia, which plied traditional tourist fare, such as pesto spaghetti.

Back at port