Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We had an early start today. At six o’clock in the morning, we offered a high intensity walk to the very top of Bartolomé Island. The magnificent scenery of a good part of the archipelago and the different islands and different types of volcanic formations once again allowed us to believe we were at a brand new planet. The main reason for this is the very desert-like conditions on the island that make life impossible for mammals. In fact, it looks very much like a whole new planet: some people say it is pretty much like walking on the moon, or maybe Mars.
Bartolomé is believed to be one of the smallest islands of the Galápagos group being only about 6.5 square miles in size and 370 feet high. We were amazed at how environments can change so much in such short distances.
After breakfast, we enjoyed different activities in the water. The dune walkers had a chance to observe a Pacific Green Sea Turtle go back to the water after making its nest. Those among us who did not walk over the isthmus were lucky to witness a hatchling of the same species make a successful entry to the water… This was very exciting and probably the best sighting of the whole trip, as not very many of them make it, especially when they hatch out during the day. The survival rate is just 5% - those that will reach maturity and reproduce. Female sea turtles hatched on the Galápagos this year will be coming back to the same area in twenty or thirty years in order to make their own nests and perpetuate the species…
After witnessing this delicate process of life, we are thankful that one of the strongest policies of the Galápagos National Park Service is to not interfere with the natural processes. At the same time, having these islands as a National Park will guarantee that the islands will not be developed in the future so the species that use them as their breeding grounds will always have their natural habitat to mate and reproduce and keep on living!
We repositioned to the northwestern coast of Santiago Island in the afternoon. Here, we all went on a hike along the coast of Puerto Egas. In the intricate grottoes at the end of the walk, the famous Galápagos fur seals were seen resting on the lava. We were able to get very good close-up pictures of them. Today the fur sea lions decided to pose for us and gave us the chance to compare the physical differences between the two endemic species of sea lions that inhabit the archipelago.
Not bad at all for the last day of our trip!!!!
