Dragon’s Hill & Chinese Hat Islands
This morning we woke up once again at the island of Santa Cruz, but at the northern end. The change in vegetation made us feel as though we were on a different island; yesterday we spent the entire day in the southernmost region, where the vegetation is very exuberant, compared to the dryness of Dragon’s Hill.
This morning we disembarked with the hope to see land iguanas roaming in the wild. They were once close to extinction, due to the presence of introduced animals. But thanks to the success of the restoration of this site, they are now free to enjoy their home as it was centuries ago.
We continued our adventure with two options: one was to disembark at a beautiful white beach and the other was to enjoy water activities at Guy Fawkes islets. The water temperature was very pleasant and the Galápagos sea lions were very playful.
After these amazing morning activities, we repositioned the National Geographic Endeavour for our next adventures at Chinese Hat, a very small geological formation off the coast of Santiago Island. Between these two islands we have one of the most impressive protected bays in Galápagos, and here we offered a few options, such as kayaking, Zodiac rides, snorkeling, and beach activities. Snorkeling was at its best, with sharks, Galápagos penguins, and lots of different species of fish. Kayaking was spectacular: as the sun was setting, Galápagos sea lions came to play with the kayakers.
It is very difficult to describe a day like this, because there are no words to express the excitement of actually being here.
