Bartolomé & Santiago
This morning we had an early wake up call to visit one of the more well-known islands in the Galápagos, famous for its outstanding geological formations. Bartolomé made us feel we were looking at the craters of the moon.
As we walked on the trail we could feel and see the volcanic ash that covers the island but as we walked a little bit further we had to walk along a wooden platform that was built to prevent the erosion on this unique island. As we climbed higher the landscape changed and we were able to see different geological features like spatter cones, lava tubes and the famous pinnacle rock that stands tall in front of Sullivan Bay, a beautiful lava flow from the 18th hundreds.
After breakfast, we went on a walk over a sand dune where we found red mangroves and salt bushes. At the end of our hike we walked along a golden beach, where we found some fresh turtle tracks heading towards a dune, where they probably laid their eggs last night.
Our morning concluding with snorkeling from the beach; what an experience it was. We snorkeled with a few Galápagos penguins and many other creatures like king angels, parrot fish and black striped salemas among others.
At noon, the National Geographic Endeavour sailed to Santiago Island where we visited the home of the Galápagos fur seal, and had another chance to snorkel. This time we saw sea turtles. After, we went for a walk along the shore of Puerto Egas.
In the inner trail we could see some of the native plants and a few Darwin finches. As we approached the shoreline we saw a few sleepy fur seals, yellow crowned night herons, Sally Lightfoot crabs and the most precious new born sea lion pups.
