Santa Cruz Island
What an Impressive day. Early in the morning we disembarked at Puerto Ayora, where the headquarters for conservation and the Galápagos National Park and the Darwin Research Center are located. We had the option to make a quick visit to both of these headquarters later in the day, but first, we took a 45 minutes bus ride to the highlands. Our goal was to find and observe giant tortoises in the wild. Today we have the opportunity to share the same feelings of awe and surprise that the first visitors to these islands, over 400 years ago, felt when they first set eyes on these impressive and enigmatic reptiles. We discovered one particularly massive male “Galápagos” (they were named after the old Spanish saddles called galapago) who must have weighed over 500 pounds. This huge tortoise, right on the trail in front of us, is an impression that will last for ever. We located several others, hiding in the lush green vegetation and soaking in the mud of El Chato lagoon.
Once we were all back on board, we enjoyed a delicious lunch, the Captain weighed anchor and we set course to our next destination, Seymour Island. This is a small island but it supports an amazing diversity of life. Following siesta (for some of us) and as I was concluding a talk about Charles Darwin, we spotted dolphins! Second officer Byron turned the Islander towards them and sure enough, within minutes these magnificent marine mammals were bow-riding. They were our escort, a super welcoming committee!
We made a dry landing on the rough and rocky coast of Seymour, and were greeted by sea lions and beautiful swallow tailed gulls. These are endemic to the archipelago and unique in that they are nocturnal feeders; this is unusual behavior for a gull. As we continued and made our way carefully among the reddish lava boulders, we found a rainbow of colors in all that we observed: yellow land iguanas, red and black male magnificent frigate birds, blue and white blue footed boobies, and red and gray succulent shrubs and dormant palo santo trees. The sun set, the moon rose, a steady breeze pounded the ocean and sky, and all our senses were keen and in tune with every spectacular moment in nature that we were experiencing. It is extremely difficult to attempt to describe a late afternoon’s visit to Seymour. You have to be out there in the golden light of the setting sun, with birds and animals all around, to really know its beauty and magic.
Back on board as the stars, planets, and moon rose in the evening, we compared notes, eagerly fliped through our pictures and relived the day’s many and varied experiences. We navigated to our next destination; living as if in a dream, here in the Enchanted Islands.
What an Impressive day. Early in the morning we disembarked at Puerto Ayora, where the headquarters for conservation and the Galápagos National Park and the Darwin Research Center are located. We had the option to make a quick visit to both of these headquarters later in the day, but first, we took a 45 minutes bus ride to the highlands. Our goal was to find and observe giant tortoises in the wild. Today we have the opportunity to share the same feelings of awe and surprise that the first visitors to these islands, over 400 years ago, felt when they first set eyes on these impressive and enigmatic reptiles. We discovered one particularly massive male “Galápagos” (they were named after the old Spanish saddles called galapago) who must have weighed over 500 pounds. This huge tortoise, right on the trail in front of us, is an impression that will last for ever. We located several others, hiding in the lush green vegetation and soaking in the mud of El Chato lagoon.
Once we were all back on board, we enjoyed a delicious lunch, the Captain weighed anchor and we set course to our next destination, Seymour Island. This is a small island but it supports an amazing diversity of life. Following siesta (for some of us) and as I was concluding a talk about Charles Darwin, we spotted dolphins! Second officer Byron turned the Islander towards them and sure enough, within minutes these magnificent marine mammals were bow-riding. They were our escort, a super welcoming committee!
We made a dry landing on the rough and rocky coast of Seymour, and were greeted by sea lions and beautiful swallow tailed gulls. These are endemic to the archipelago and unique in that they are nocturnal feeders; this is unusual behavior for a gull. As we continued and made our way carefully among the reddish lava boulders, we found a rainbow of colors in all that we observed: yellow land iguanas, red and black male magnificent frigate birds, blue and white blue footed boobies, and red and gray succulent shrubs and dormant palo santo trees. The sun set, the moon rose, a steady breeze pounded the ocean and sky, and all our senses were keen and in tune with every spectacular moment in nature that we were experiencing. It is extremely difficult to attempt to describe a late afternoon’s visit to Seymour. You have to be out there in the golden light of the setting sun, with birds and animals all around, to really know its beauty and magic.
Back on board as the stars, planets, and moon rose in the evening, we compared notes, eagerly fliped through our pictures and relived the day’s many and varied experiences. We navigated to our next destination; living as if in a dream, here in the Enchanted Islands.
