Written Wednesday 11 June
With sea lions, elephant seals (!!) and huge birds of prey circling the coastline, it was wildlife central today which I was totally chuffed with (of course!). Filled the morning with a couple of short walks along the coast - watched sea lions as they glided through the ocean and stopped at a waterfall gushing onto the sand just metres from the sea. We also spent a considerable amount of time watching the boys build an enormous cairn - effectively a big pile of rocks - on the beach. To be fair it was pretty badass by the time it was finished:
Next stop, elephant seals!! Have been excited about seeing these since booking the trip so was cool to finally see them - practically burst out of the van and made a beeline for the beach. They were AWESOME and there were so many lining the entire shore, flicking sand onto themselves (to keep cool and protect themselves from sunburn) and flopping their way from the sand to the sea in a not-so-delicate fashion. Got a vid which I'll try & remember to upload when I get home :) Fun facts: males grow to 5,000lbs (2,300kg!) and only males grow the long nose (proboscis), after they reach puberty around age 5. Also newly weaned pups are called weaners! LOL.
Two hour journey to Santa Barbara although we didn't actually see any of the town once we arrived. Original plan was to go to the beach but the tide was too high so had another chilled one at camp and a relatively early night. Whale watching tomorrow...!!! Trying not to get my hopes up just in case but secretly I'm ridiculously excited.
