Our group begins the day with a hearty breakfast of granola and fruit before setting off to the next island.

We dock on Sombrero Chino and my new shipmates delight over the sea lions. Ha! I am nearly over seeing these ubiquitous creatures and instead I snap a photo of everyone else photographing sea lions.

Okay, fine. Maybe I’m not completely over them.

All of the Galapagos Islands are formed by volcanic activity, and Sombrero Chino is one of the more recent formations. You can see how the swirling lava is set in the rock below. It’s actually much more fragile than the other islands we’ve visited so far and occasionally chunks of rock break off under the weight of our footsteps.

Did you know that sea lions have nails?

This little reptile climbs on top of its friend for a better view.

Fine! You win. I am not at all over sea lions.

We spot a shell that has been abandoned by a molting crab.

The lizards on this island blend in so well with the rocky landscape. We have to watch our step!

I’ve said it before: it is so neat to watch the lizards’ skin change color.

Sombrero Chino is one of the least-visited islands in the Galapagos, which our group finds surprising because we love it here. Just look at the color of that bay.

Back on board, we enjoy a lunch of shrimp over pesto rice and salad with avocado. YUM.

After the meal we spend quite a bit of time snorkeling around this area — more on that in an upcoming post on underwater life in the Galapagos!