We're finally "living the dream", anchored inside another incredibly beautiful barrier reef in Aves Borlavento, about 20 miles east of where we last wrote. A few hundred yards to our north is a very small, picturesque island: low-lying pinky-green grasses surrounded by a white sand beach, ringed by a small reef covered in turquoise-blue water. The wreck of an old fishing boat lies in the distance.

I snorkeled over to the island this afternoon to look for "sea treasures" to add to my little collection of shells & stuff, and to my delight discovered a small flock of nesting yellow-footed boobies in the grasses! (I sound like a real bird officianado saying that, don't I?) The baby boobies are quite young; some of them look as if they're only a week old. I walked up to one boobie who appeared to be sitting on her egg, but then I saw a little white ball of fuzz sticking out from under her. I plopped myself down on the thoughtfully placed viewing perch - a smooth driftwood log - and waited. A few moments later a little head peeped out, and then this gangly fuzzy white baby booby crawled out! Its wings were not yet fully formed and it was apparently quite hungry; it kept poking its mom's beak with its beak, looking for some food, I imagine. It was REALLY cute! I watched it for about 10 minutes, and then cruised around the rest of the island as far as I could without disturbing the boobies. There were baby boobies in all stages of development and, sadly, one dead little fuzzy white booby, lying there completely limp. A few boobies still appear to be sitting on their nests so hopefully we can go back tomorrow to see if any of these have hatched.

Update: Well, it's "tomorrow"; Louis and I dinghied back to the island today, camera and video-camera in tow (thank you Todd!). We didn't spot any recent hatchlings, but we were able to get a good view of a boobie egg as its Mom shifted around in her nest. It looks to be the size of a chicken egg, so I guess these little guys must be a bit older than I originally thought. And, a miracle has occurred: the little limp dead boobie has been resurrected! I guess it wasn't dead, just tuckered out and, for some reason, temporarily abandoned by its mom.

We then dinghied out to the far reef to hunt up some dinner (got skunked), and later motored over to the tiniest little island we've ever been on. It was just a little spit of sand out in the middle of the bay. It took 96 steps to walk around the waterline of the island. I searched for one special shell to bring home to remind me of this incredible day and the miniature island, and there it was, lying in the sand: a tiny, beautiful hinged pinky-white shell.

What a perfect day!