Bartolomé & Chinese Hat Islands
The central islands of the Galápagos Archipelago hold a small population of the endemic Galápagos penguin, the third smallest penguin in the world, after the Australian and New Zealand penguins. The total population in the Galápagos is a mere 800 individuals, with most living in the western archipelago. Here, at these central islands, we find some dozens of them, and today we had the opportunity to see and snorkel with them.
We started the day with a hike to Bartholomew Island, where we saw Pinnacle Rock and the surrounding parasitic cones of several central islands, from an altitude of 360 feet.
Snorkeling in these waters is one of the highlights, due to the diversity of fish and the opportunity to find penguins in the water! Antarctica certainly wouldn’t be a comfortable place to snorkel…Our chances of seeing these incredible birds in the water is enhanced at Chinese Hat, our afternoon landing, and here too we found penguins, amongst much other marine life.
Just as we were ready to lift the anchor from Bartholomew, a pod of five killer whales approached National Geographic Endeavour, and our underwater team went to capture close-up sightings of the event!
Kayaks and a fleet of Zodiacs took us on a ride along the coastline of Sullivan Bay, Santiago and Chinese Hat, allowing all of us to photograph the volcanic scenery and the wildlife from a close range.
At night, we enjoyed a delicious barbeque, under the light of a bright full moon.
