Bartolome & Santiago
This morning, the six o’clock wake up call got us up in front of Bartholomew Island. Most of our guests responded to the call, and by six thirty, we were on our way to the summit; it had been raining early, but even though there were still some dark clouds, it didn’t rain on us. Two thirds of the group went non-stop all the way up, and the rest of us took a slower pace watching all the geological features. Once on the summit, we were all rewarded with the spectacular view of one of the classical landscapes in the islands.
After breakfast, Cindy, the expedition leader gave a briefing about safety and the snorkelling gear, and fifteen minutes later, every one was ready at the gangway eager to experience their first underwater adventure. We had a wet landing, and before snorkelling, we took a walk across and over to the beach opposite to the landing site. There were the clear tracks of turtles, which had been busy excavating nests during the previous night’s high tide; besides this, we saw many ghost crabs that were scooping up the sand sucking nutrients while leaving tiny balls behind them. The sun was fully shining then, and the light was good for snorkelling. We saw several colourful fish and a “friendly” white-tip shark. It let us watch him from all angles.
We came back on board, and the boat moved to Puerto Egas in Santiago Island. We got some rain as we were sailing, and when we reached our destination, it was still drizzling a bit. Some went out to snorkel anyway, and it was a good choice. They got to see turtles underwater. Others had the second wet landing of the day and started to walk right away by the lava shore. Nature cooperated and the skies held back the rain while we walked to the West with the ocean to our right. We saw marine iguanas, big males with reddish sides and green backs (which they get during this time of the year), females and juveniles, American oyster catchers (a couple with to eggs in their nest), plovers, lava herons, mockingbirds, a Galápagos hawk, and at the end, we met the Galápagos fur seal. We came back to the Islander after a journey full of new experiences.
This morning, the six o’clock wake up call got us up in front of Bartholomew Island. Most of our guests responded to the call, and by six thirty, we were on our way to the summit; it had been raining early, but even though there were still some dark clouds, it didn’t rain on us. Two thirds of the group went non-stop all the way up, and the rest of us took a slower pace watching all the geological features. Once on the summit, we were all rewarded with the spectacular view of one of the classical landscapes in the islands.
After breakfast, Cindy, the expedition leader gave a briefing about safety and the snorkelling gear, and fifteen minutes later, every one was ready at the gangway eager to experience their first underwater adventure. We had a wet landing, and before snorkelling, we took a walk across and over to the beach opposite to the landing site. There were the clear tracks of turtles, which had been busy excavating nests during the previous night’s high tide; besides this, we saw many ghost crabs that were scooping up the sand sucking nutrients while leaving tiny balls behind them. The sun was fully shining then, and the light was good for snorkelling. We saw several colourful fish and a “friendly” white-tip shark. It let us watch him from all angles.
We came back on board, and the boat moved to Puerto Egas in Santiago Island. We got some rain as we were sailing, and when we reached our destination, it was still drizzling a bit. Some went out to snorkel anyway, and it was a good choice. They got to see turtles underwater. Others had the second wet landing of the day and started to walk right away by the lava shore. Nature cooperated and the skies held back the rain while we walked to the West with the ocean to our right. We saw marine iguanas, big males with reddish sides and green backs (which they get during this time of the year), females and juveniles, American oyster catchers (a couple with to eggs in their nest), plovers, lava herons, mockingbirds, a Galápagos hawk, and at the end, we met the Galápagos fur seal. We came back to the Islander after a journey full of new experiences.
