Day 15 - Mosquera Islet Then Baltra Island Departure

Our boat started moving very early this morning, well before sunrise. The plan was to anchor between North Seymour and South Seymour (aka Baltra) Islands just off of the small islet called Mosquera.

The hope was to land on Mosquera and watch the sunrise from there. Unfortunately, it was quite cloudy. Linda decided to sleep in as did a few of the other folks.

But some of us went on the Zodiacs where we did a wet landing on the beach of Mosquera. A few curious, friendly sea lions were there to greet us.

​This little islet was mostly about the sea lions.

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The sea lions here were active and didn't hesitate to come closer or pose for photos. Here's a video.

There were also a couple of Lava Gulls picking at a fish. I think we saw Lava Gulls our first day, but these were the only ones we got a good look at during the whole trip.

​They are endemic to the Galapagos and are considered the rarest gulls in the world. Most people wouldn't think so, but I considered that a nice final treat.

This short video actually provides a better look than the photo.

Also on the islet are whale bones. A few of the islands that the tourists visit most have strategically placed whale bones, and that, to me, isn't as interesting as something that has happened naturally.

We made the slow walk back along the beach where the Zodiacs were waiting to pick us up ... and where the sea lions were offering their goodbyes.

Thus ended the nature portion of our trip.

Back onboard, we had our breakfast and packed our things as we sailed toward Baltra Harbor.

The Zodiacs delivered us and our luggage to shore where we picked up a bus for a short ride to the airport on Baltra Island.

Our flight back to mainland Ecuador went without a hitch. After a brief stop in Guayaquil, we continued on to Quito. In Quito, we checked into a hotel near the airport for a few hours before our red-eye flight back to the U.S. We ordered some room service and took naps - it was a good call to spend those hours in comfort rather than sitting in the airport.

And so that completed our 15 days in the Galapagos Islands. It was a trip of a lifetime, and we're glad we spent as much time as we did. Sure, you can see most of what we saw in a shorter trip, but there were plenty of things we would have missed out on had we not gone to as many islands as we did.

There were so many special moments interacting with the animals, and we'll have the memories of our wonderful experiences for years to come. Perhaps our journey will inspire you to visit this unique archipelago someday - it's certainly a dream trip for a Nature Traveler.