Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz Island
Well, if Larry Hobbs thought he had a rough day of it on January 26 on the Sea Bird, our day was quite comparable.
After a group of really nice people boarded the ship in Baltra, we repositioned to another location known as Cerro Dragon. We had to pass the Daphne Islands on the way, while sneaky storm petrels, lava herons and boobies flew by.
When we finally managed to get off onto the Zodiacs to cruise around the islet of Venecia, north-western corner of Santa Cruz Island, and we were practically out of our seats almost immediately. The blue-footed boobies were perched on black volcanic rocks with their blue feet shining in the light. The sea lions were sleeping sleekly nearby. A colourful marine iguana dozed head-to-head while great blue herons were behaving as if this was breeding season already!
Later, as we were having a quiet moment in a lagoon, mustard rays, spotted eagle rays and a giant marbled ray cruised by dodging white-tipped and black-tipped sharks along the red-mangrove roots hanging down into the water.
Wouldn’t you believe it, just as we got back on course to continue our cruise, some rare land iguanas started ambling over the lava rocks under prickly pear cacti? Meanwhile those pesky Darwin finches were flying overhead, daring us to identify them in flight.
Being a Naturalist with Lindblad keeps us on our toes, and it’s not easy!
Well, if Larry Hobbs thought he had a rough day of it on January 26 on the Sea Bird, our day was quite comparable.
After a group of really nice people boarded the ship in Baltra, we repositioned to another location known as Cerro Dragon. We had to pass the Daphne Islands on the way, while sneaky storm petrels, lava herons and boobies flew by.
When we finally managed to get off onto the Zodiacs to cruise around the islet of Venecia, north-western corner of Santa Cruz Island, and we were practically out of our seats almost immediately. The blue-footed boobies were perched on black volcanic rocks with their blue feet shining in the light. The sea lions were sleeping sleekly nearby. A colourful marine iguana dozed head-to-head while great blue herons were behaving as if this was breeding season already!
Later, as we were having a quiet moment in a lagoon, mustard rays, spotted eagle rays and a giant marbled ray cruised by dodging white-tipped and black-tipped sharks along the red-mangrove roots hanging down into the water.
Wouldn’t you believe it, just as we got back on course to continue our cruise, some rare land iguanas started ambling over the lava rocks under prickly pear cacti? Meanwhile those pesky Darwin finches were flying overhead, daring us to identify them in flight.
Being a Naturalist with Lindblad keeps us on our toes, and it’s not easy!
