Bartolomé Island and Chinese Hat
There are no words to describe what an amazing day we had today!
Early in the beautiful morning we set foot on Bartolomé Island. There is an optional walk to the 340 feet high top of this small but impressive island. Some of us went quickly, using the walk as a morning workout, while others took a bit more time and proceeded with our Naturalist’s interpretation of the surroundings. Once at the top we saw the impressive view from above, the world famous pinnacle rock was in front of us surrounded by several parasitic cones, what a great sight.
This barren island is an iconic place among the landscapes of the Galápagos Islands because of the pinnacle rock and the golden sandy beach with clear water for snorkeling. At nine o’clock we landed at the beach again, but this time for snorkeling and glass bottom boat activities. Some of us decided to stay on the beautiful golden sand beach. You never know what to expect from the wonders of nature. While we were standing by the shoreline of the beach, a very curious and agile penguin only stood 3 feet away, he went around our feet and then headed onto the black lava to rejuvenate from his fishing activities.
After lunch our ship navigated to a different side of the archipelago, a place that holds amazing marine life and very young lava fields, a place where the candelabra cacti and Galápagos penguins are not far from each other. And of course we couldn’t resist another chance to explore! This time we were also in shallow waters surrounded by young black lava fields. Swimming along “Sombrero Chino” we saw sea lions, penguins and even white-tipped reef sharks swimming with us! There were also hundreds of razor surgeon fish, the biggest blue-chinned parrot fish we had ever seen, sergeant majors, goatfish and many others. Snorkeling in the Galápagos, gave us a better understanding of our oceans. Jumping in the waters of these islands made us feel like part of the blue heart of the planet. It’s a world like no other, peaceful but at the same time active, hard to explain but a very memorable experience. Our oceans hold tons of marine life, many unknown to humans. In the Galápagos 22 % of that marine life is endemic. It’s a matter of knowing, feeling ourselves like part of the oceans and to respect it with the experience this islands had shared with us today!
