Bartolome and Santiago Islands
It was grey and misty (here we call the mist “garua”) when I made my optional early wake-up call over the ship’s PA system. The cool morning weather was excellent for our hike to the summit of the barren volcanic islet of Bartolome. Naturalist Carmen, Alexandra and Carlos described the landscape as we followed a wooden boardwalk and climbed over 370 stairs. They talked about the volcanic origin of these oceanic islands and pointed out spatter, cinder and tuff cones to us. From the top, the view was magnificent and we were all both hungry and deserving of a bountiful breakfast when we returned to the Islander.
Following breakfast I gave a snorkeling safety briefing and then we distributed snorkeling gear. We took the Zodiacs in to the lovely golden crescent beach for a wet landing and short walk across a sand dune. Just off this south facing beach we watched a dozen large white tipped reef sharks cruising along in knee deep water. This beach is a major sea turtle nesting site and we could see that females had been up during the last few nights to dig their nest holes and lay dozens of eggs. We even found an area, covered by hundreds of tiny turtle flipper marks, made by the hatchlings that had emerged under the cover of dark.
The clouds lifted and the sun came out as the day progressed, and we went swimming and snorkeling from the landing beach. Conditions were calm and fairly clear, and this was a perfect opportunity to learn or practice snorkeling. We saw impressive schools of fish, swam with playful sea lions and a few penguins and admired sea stars of several shapes and colors.
After lunch, siesta, and my power point presentation on “Las Islas Encantadas,” we headed for the black sand beach at Puerto Egas for more swimming and snorkeling. The afternoon walk took us along a carved lava shore where we found many large marine iguanas basking on the lava rocks or feeding on closely cropped bright green algae. We saw a number of new land birds: the yellow warblers, Darwin finches and Galápagos mocking birds and doves. Along the coast, there were several shorebirds and of course the ubiquitous and ever entertaining sea lions. Near the end of the trail, we observed a second species in the sea lion family: the Galápagos fur seal. As the sunset and the mosquitos began to buzz around us, we hurried back to the ship for cocktails and ceviche on the Sky Deck. Recap, briefing and dinner and we thought the day was done. Then some of our guests asked me to identify the tiny marine creatures they were seeing swimming alongside the ship. Wow! I realized immediately they were hatchling sea turtles! Now this is something I have never seen from a ship during all the 26 years I have worked as a Naturalist in these enchanted islands. Yep, a wonderful day was had by all: crew and guests alike!
It was grey and misty (here we call the mist “garua”) when I made my optional early wake-up call over the ship’s PA system. The cool morning weather was excellent for our hike to the summit of the barren volcanic islet of Bartolome. Naturalist Carmen, Alexandra and Carlos described the landscape as we followed a wooden boardwalk and climbed over 370 stairs. They talked about the volcanic origin of these oceanic islands and pointed out spatter, cinder and tuff cones to us. From the top, the view was magnificent and we were all both hungry and deserving of a bountiful breakfast when we returned to the Islander.
Following breakfast I gave a snorkeling safety briefing and then we distributed snorkeling gear. We took the Zodiacs in to the lovely golden crescent beach for a wet landing and short walk across a sand dune. Just off this south facing beach we watched a dozen large white tipped reef sharks cruising along in knee deep water. This beach is a major sea turtle nesting site and we could see that females had been up during the last few nights to dig their nest holes and lay dozens of eggs. We even found an area, covered by hundreds of tiny turtle flipper marks, made by the hatchlings that had emerged under the cover of dark.
The clouds lifted and the sun came out as the day progressed, and we went swimming and snorkeling from the landing beach. Conditions were calm and fairly clear, and this was a perfect opportunity to learn or practice snorkeling. We saw impressive schools of fish, swam with playful sea lions and a few penguins and admired sea stars of several shapes and colors.
After lunch, siesta, and my power point presentation on “Las Islas Encantadas,” we headed for the black sand beach at Puerto Egas for more swimming and snorkeling. The afternoon walk took us along a carved lava shore where we found many large marine iguanas basking on the lava rocks or feeding on closely cropped bright green algae. We saw a number of new land birds: the yellow warblers, Darwin finches and Galápagos mocking birds and doves. Along the coast, there were several shorebirds and of course the ubiquitous and ever entertaining sea lions. Near the end of the trail, we observed a second species in the sea lion family: the Galápagos fur seal. As the sunset and the mosquitos began to buzz around us, we hurried back to the ship for cocktails and ceviche on the Sky Deck. Recap, briefing and dinner and we thought the day was done. Then some of our guests asked me to identify the tiny marine creatures they were seeing swimming alongside the ship. Wow! I realized immediately they were hatchling sea turtles! Now this is something I have never seen from a ship during all the 26 years I have worked as a Naturalist in these enchanted islands. Yep, a wonderful day was had by all: crew and guests alike!
