Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We had an optional early morning call to climb to the summit of Bartolomé Island. A cute little Galápagos penguin welcomed us when we disembarked on the lava rocks at the landing site; it was calling to its partner and spent some minutes diving around our Zodiac! This was our very first Galápagos penguin of the week. Three hundred and seventy three wooden steps took us to a three hundred sixty foot high summit where we found a light house. This is part of an eroded crater and we had the most spectacular view from the top of Santiago, Santa Cruz Island, Baltra, and North Seymour Islands, the slopes of the volcanoes of Isabela, and Bainbridge Rocks as well as Chinese Hat Island.
Once back onboard, we had breakfast and geared up to go snorkeling. We had our first encounter with the fabulous underwater life of the islands, schools of colorful fish, sea stars, sea lions and Galápagos penguins swam with us. We relaxed and sunbathed on the golden crescent beach before returning to the ship.
During lunch the Islander moved around Santiago Island to anchor in Puerto Egas. We had great snorkeling again - this time with sea turtles and rays - and departed from a black sand beach to take a walk along the shore. Our naturalists told us stories about the humans who tried unsuccessfully to establish in this harsh area and we enjoyed a spectacular grotto area where we learned about the Galápagos fur sea lions. Big marine iguanas, red and blue Sally Lightfoot crabs, oystercatchers, lava herons, and many other wonderful animals were the highlight of the afternoon walk. This was a marvelous and different Monday in our lives.
We had an optional early morning call to climb to the summit of Bartolomé Island. A cute little Galápagos penguin welcomed us when we disembarked on the lava rocks at the landing site; it was calling to its partner and spent some minutes diving around our Zodiac! This was our very first Galápagos penguin of the week. Three hundred and seventy three wooden steps took us to a three hundred sixty foot high summit where we found a light house. This is part of an eroded crater and we had the most spectacular view from the top of Santiago, Santa Cruz Island, Baltra, and North Seymour Islands, the slopes of the volcanoes of Isabela, and Bainbridge Rocks as well as Chinese Hat Island.
Once back onboard, we had breakfast and geared up to go snorkeling. We had our first encounter with the fabulous underwater life of the islands, schools of colorful fish, sea stars, sea lions and Galápagos penguins swam with us. We relaxed and sunbathed on the golden crescent beach before returning to the ship.
During lunch the Islander moved around Santiago Island to anchor in Puerto Egas. We had great snorkeling again - this time with sea turtles and rays - and departed from a black sand beach to take a walk along the shore. Our naturalists told us stories about the humans who tried unsuccessfully to establish in this harsh area and we enjoyed a spectacular grotto area where we learned about the Galápagos fur sea lions. Big marine iguanas, red and blue Sally Lightfoot crabs, oystercatchers, lava herons, and many other wonderful animals were the highlight of the afternoon walk. This was a marvelous and different Monday in our lives.
