Dragon Hill & Sombrero Chino
In the early hours of the day we started with our activities. We went ashore before breakfast to visit one of the few places where Galápagos land iguanas still thrive. These reptiles have a paradise right now as the rainy season brings lots of food and fresh water all around. This is also the time when these reptiles mate and nest; we saw a couple of them enjoying an early meal and a mud bath.
We returned aboard for a well-deserved breakfast. We were very fortunate with an incredible feeding frenzy right next to our ship. We easily had more than three hundred blue footed boobies, several dozens of brown pelicans and about 3 Galápagos sharks feeding on small fish. It was very interesting to see how well synchronized boobies and pelicans are while plunge-diving in unison.
For the afternoon we explored the volcanic coast of Santiago and Sombrero Chino. Some went to the beach and the stunning blue color of the water plus the yellow flowers and brown lava made a dramatic contrast with the dark fresh volcanic flows of Santiago. Some encountered a penguin, others a Galápagos marine iguana while snorkeling. We felt very lucky and fortunate to have the only penguin that lives at the equator and the only sea going iguana in the world joining us for snorkeling.
This was a wonderful day.
