Bartolome and Santiago Islands
This is our first full day in the Galápagos Islands and early morning found us anchored across from Bartolome Islet, renowned for its spectacular pinnacle rock. Our Expedition Leader, Emma, made her early morning wake up call at six a.m., to make the best of the nicest light and coolest conditions. We disembarked shortly after and walked across volcanic ash to a wooden boardwalk, then climbed wooden steps to the summit of the small volcano, all while the Naturalists explained the geology of the islands. We climbed a wooden stairway that the National Park Service built several years ago to avoid erosion of the island: a set of 375 steps made up our morning work out. Everyone agreed that the view from the top is the best one they had seen in any place they had ever visited! After this first outing, we came back on board to enjoy a delicious and replenishing breakfast before setting out once again to one of the most spectacular snorkeling sites in the archipelago. The morning ended with a lot of sunbathers that were absolutely reluctant to leave this beautiful beach, which we shared with an odd combination of sea lions and penguins!
On reaching Puerto Egas, our afternoon visitor site to the west of the large island of Santiago, we were welcomed by a short and warm shower, not unusual in the hot, rainy season in the Galápagos and important for all our terrestrial organisms. The afternoon hike, along the low intertidal shore line of Puerto Egas, invited us to observe the coastal lava flows where tidal pools provided a perfect playground for many energetic young sea lions and for the endemic fur seals at the end of the walk, found in the so-called grottos. Everybody was delighted to be able to share all this time among these fearless animals in this unique place on earth, and we all agreed that it is important to preserve these islands for the generations to come and for the whole human race. These wonderful creatures should stay in their habitats for ever, as they are found no where else on earth.
This is our first full day in the Galápagos Islands and early morning found us anchored across from Bartolome Islet, renowned for its spectacular pinnacle rock. Our Expedition Leader, Emma, made her early morning wake up call at six a.m., to make the best of the nicest light and coolest conditions. We disembarked shortly after and walked across volcanic ash to a wooden boardwalk, then climbed wooden steps to the summit of the small volcano, all while the Naturalists explained the geology of the islands. We climbed a wooden stairway that the National Park Service built several years ago to avoid erosion of the island: a set of 375 steps made up our morning work out. Everyone agreed that the view from the top is the best one they had seen in any place they had ever visited! After this first outing, we came back on board to enjoy a delicious and replenishing breakfast before setting out once again to one of the most spectacular snorkeling sites in the archipelago. The morning ended with a lot of sunbathers that were absolutely reluctant to leave this beautiful beach, which we shared with an odd combination of sea lions and penguins!
On reaching Puerto Egas, our afternoon visitor site to the west of the large island of Santiago, we were welcomed by a short and warm shower, not unusual in the hot, rainy season in the Galápagos and important for all our terrestrial organisms. The afternoon hike, along the low intertidal shore line of Puerto Egas, invited us to observe the coastal lava flows where tidal pools provided a perfect playground for many energetic young sea lions and for the endemic fur seals at the end of the walk, found in the so-called grottos. Everybody was delighted to be able to share all this time among these fearless animals in this unique place on earth, and we all agreed that it is important to preserve these islands for the generations to come and for the whole human race. These wonderful creatures should stay in their habitats for ever, as they are found no where else on earth.
