San Cristobal Island
Kicker Rock, Leon Dormido, the boa that ate an elephant, any term works to name this islet, as human imagination is as vast as the shapes and volumes on this planet. What is certain about the rock is that is formed by ash, piled, accumulated, compacted over several eruptions. Then the seas carved its walls, made them collapse, drew the forms we marvel at and that make us dream of different stories about them.
This tuff formation is a few miles away from San Cristobal Island; it is home for Nazca boobies, frigates, swallow-tailed gulls and petrels. In its surrounding waters one encounters sharks of several kinds: hammerheads, Galápagos and white-tipped reef sharks. Other cartilaginous fish navigate the deep fissure in between its walls, like manta and eagle rays. Today, several human beings, equipped with masks and wet suits, accompanied the creatures from the sea in the enjoyment of its deep blue. The clouds joined in the celebration of beauty, while the rest of our guests on board the National Geographic Endeavour marveled, from above sea level, at the big palette of pure splendor.
