Cerro Dragon & El Eden Island
Today we had a fantastic exploration to the northern side of Santa Cruz Island. The first visit of the day was at Cerro Dragon in order to explore the hidden and remote world of the Galápagos land iguana. After a comfortable dry landing, we got into a deep incense tree forest. One of the wonders of the area was definitely the sanctuary of insects inside the vegetation: painted locusts, orb spiders, sulfur butterflies, and the very curious carpenter bees provided the perfect symphony for a delightful hike.
Farther along the trail we witnessed one of the most astounding creatures of the archipelago: the land iguana. There were very colorful individuals throughout the trail, and the vegetation of the site was the perfect color combination for a marvelous dragon paradise.
As we reached the summit of the hill, we enjoyed a charming view with sea, forest and islands as a background. After the hike was over, there was no time to waste; we got our gear ready in order to see the underwater world at Guy Fawkes islets. Once in the water, the marvels of the area made us feel as if we were inside a magical paradise. Sea turtles, sea lions and very colorful reef fishes made for the perfect snorkeling activity. As we came back on board the National Geographic Endeavour, it was time to enjoy a distinctive Ecuadorian buffet lunch.
During the afternoon the adventure just got better, with deep-water snorkeling at El Eden Island. Fishes of many different sizes stunned us as soon as we got in the water. During the Zodiac ride, the marvels of El Eden Island were just spectacular. Blue-footed boobies, striated herons, frigatebirds, and Galápagos sea lions were some of the wonders that nature offered here. As we traveled along the coastline, the magic of the rocks found at the volcanic tuff cone were amazingly striking. At the end of the adventure, we had a remarkable navigation around Daphne Island as we watched all the sea birds flying around the perimeter.
The Galápagos Islands are a natural paradise to remember, and today we had the perfect perception of that.
