Our journey continued today with an exploration of Northern Santa Cruz and an early visit to Cerro Dragon. This area is a great contrast to the highlands, as we are surrounded by a drier forest of palo santo incense trees.
Venturing inland, we encountered Darwin finches with an incredible soundscape of birdsong, young Galapagos mockingbirds flitting about looking for sustenance, and yellow warblers catching the occasional spider. As we headed to an overlook we encountered various Galapagos land iguanas, including brightly colored males lazing at the entrance to their burrows. A snorkeling session along the coast cooled us down; we spotted Pacific green sea turtles, and the occasional Galapagos sea lion judged us on our snorkeling technique.
In the afternoon, Borrego Bay welcomed us for Zodiac rides and kayaking along a red mangrove inlet, with numerous juvenile blacktip sharks, spotted eagle rays, and golden rays swimming among us. A circumnavigation of Daphne Major Island during a crimson sunset brought this day to a close.
