This is our second day of our expedition around the enchanted islands. At 6:30 am we stepped foot onto Bartolome Island. It was a dry landing onto a jetty and then we climbed to the summit of a secondary volcano which forms this site. The island is very dramatic- green and gray, sand and rocks, pyroclastic material and tuff formations, cinder and spatter cones everywhere. It seems like we are on the moon. From the top we see an astonishing view. The pinnacle rock is the most iconic place in Galapagos. it is the symbol of the islands similar to the Statue of Liberty for New York or the Eiffel tower for Paris. A wooden trail has been built in this location to stop the erosion and it makes our hike very comfortable. Along the way back we found a lava cactus, a pioneer plant that grows on barren lava. Bartolome is a very special spot which someone described as “the scenery of the beginning of life on this planet”.
Later we came back onboard for breakfast. Today our guests had many choices to explore the islands. We offered kayaking, snorkeling, Zodiac riding etc. Our expedition leader Carlos Romero explained to our guests about these water activities and later we geared up every single explorer venture out from a local beach. The snorkeling was fabulous, “Shark, shark someone exclaimed!” It is very common to see sharks in the Galapagos water, but here even these black-tipped reef sharks are tame. The place is surrounded by multicolor fish, rays, sea stars, sea urchins and more benthonic life. Other guests preferred to swim or to rest on the beach. Our morning was great! I heard one of our female travelers exclaim, “It’s exceeded my expectations!”
In the afternoon we moved to Rabida, not far away. It is known as the Red Island because of the presence of iron, a mineral that when in contact with oxygen, alters the color of the soil. Indeed the beach is red here and for some of our guests it is the first time they’ve seen a beach this dynamic color. It makes the place so special. First we snorkeled along the coast of a beautiful cliff. Once more, the rich marine ecosystem of the islands is surprising and exciting. More sharks, turtles and sea lions are seen here.
We also kayak in order to admire the several species of sea birds you find along the shore line.
At 5:00 o’clock we disembarked on the red beach. The tide was very high and has left to us a very narrow trail. Some baby sea lions give us a warm welcome, but the highlight was to see a vermillion flycatcher. It is a bird very hard to spot. We saw just one maie hopping on the branches of a black mangrove tree. It is considered the most beautiful land bird of the Galapagos. Its plumage is red and black and it shines in the green vegetation. Finally we walked all the way to the end of the beach. At this time the sky has turned into red and orange colors, the sun falls behind Isabela Island and the red beach turns into a shade of burnt orange. It is a spectacular moment of the day. The perfect and memorable final touch to conclude our exploration of these two islands.
