Wet landings

After lunch and a lifeboat drill on the ship, we got a mandatory briefing on the very strict park rules.

You must be accompanied by a licensed naturalist at all times, and each naturalist can have a maximum of 16 people in the group. Stay at least six feet away from the animals. Walk only on designated paths. No smoking, no eating, no flash photography. Oh, and no bathrooms.

Then we lined up for the zodiacs and rode out to Cerro Brujo for our first wet landing. The naturalists and zodiac drivers bring the boats as close to land as they can, then you swing your legs over the side of the zodiac and wade ashore. I tried to time the waves so I'd step into ankle deep water but I ended up in over my knees.

You don't expect to find water that brisk, that bracing, that cold at the equator.