down to 0 degrees: Isla de Plata (Silver Island)

We did a tour of Isla de Plata which is called the poor man's Galapagos because it has a couple of species of birds that are found on the Galapagos Islands, including 3 species of boobies and albatross. There are only 12 pairs of albatross there. They live to be 50 years old and mate for life. They reach sexual maturity at age 7 and mate only once every two years, laying one egg. They are an endangered species. We did see one but we were not able to get a picture.

We took a boat to the island which is 23 miles off the coast. The landscape was rugged and very dry although this is only the beginning of the dry season. Immediately, we felt the intense strength of the sun. With only a 500 ml bottle of water, we had a 3 hour hike ahead of us. There were about 12 in our group and 2 women dropped out almost at the beginning.

The trail was not as steep or long as other trails we have been on in Ecuador but the heat and sun made it the most difficult for me and Lisa. I had a jacket with me which I used as a tent to cover myself most of the way. We felt like we were in survivor mode at the end and just wanted it to end so we sprinted back to the boat and shade. On the way back Greg and Lisa snorkeled for 40 minutes or so on a small reef. End of another great day in Ecuador...