Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We started our first full day on the Galápagos with an early morning outing. As we disembarked at 6:30 in the morning air temperature was very pleasant. This latter factor contributed to make our hike to the summit of Bartolomé Island easier. A staircase with three hundred and seventy two steps allowed us to observe fantastic geological formations. Our naturalists interpreted skillfully along the way, letting our guests understand the fascinating geological processes through which these formations happened.
After our Expedition Leader Carlos Romero briefed us on the art of snorkeling, and once fully geared up, we had our second morning outing. We landed on the northern beach of Bartolomé Island. We crossed a sand dune to reach a second beach, the southern one. At this site we observed a large array of marvelous wildlife, mating sea turtles, pelicans, Sally Lightfoot and ghost crabs and sea lions. As the heat was on we headed back to the northern beach where we had our first snorkeling experience on the islands. Snorkeling was definitely one of the highlights of the day. We snorkeled with the company of colorful fish, Galápagos penguins, sea lions, white tipped reef sharks and a big amount of different species of sea stars. This stupendous morning had a golden finale, we had a typical Ecuadorian lunch in the company of bottled-nosed dolphins. Through the ample windows of our ship’s dinning room, it was great to see a big pod of these fabulous marine mammals surrounding us.
The afternoon was as spectacular, or even more, as the morning was. James Bay on Santiago Island had as a lot to offer in terms of abundance of wildlife, beauty in scenery, and intriguing human history. We all came back on board with our hearts filled with joy and ease. The sun setting on one side of the horizon and the full moon rising up in the other were an ideal farewell for this day in paradise.
We started our first full day on the Galápagos with an early morning outing. As we disembarked at 6:30 in the morning air temperature was very pleasant. This latter factor contributed to make our hike to the summit of Bartolomé Island easier. A staircase with three hundred and seventy two steps allowed us to observe fantastic geological formations. Our naturalists interpreted skillfully along the way, letting our guests understand the fascinating geological processes through which these formations happened.
After our Expedition Leader Carlos Romero briefed us on the art of snorkeling, and once fully geared up, we had our second morning outing. We landed on the northern beach of Bartolomé Island. We crossed a sand dune to reach a second beach, the southern one. At this site we observed a large array of marvelous wildlife, mating sea turtles, pelicans, Sally Lightfoot and ghost crabs and sea lions. As the heat was on we headed back to the northern beach where we had our first snorkeling experience on the islands. Snorkeling was definitely one of the highlights of the day. We snorkeled with the company of colorful fish, Galápagos penguins, sea lions, white tipped reef sharks and a big amount of different species of sea stars. This stupendous morning had a golden finale, we had a typical Ecuadorian lunch in the company of bottled-nosed dolphins. Through the ample windows of our ship’s dinning room, it was great to see a big pod of these fabulous marine mammals surrounding us.
The afternoon was as spectacular, or even more, as the morning was. James Bay on Santiago Island had as a lot to offer in terms of abundance of wildlife, beauty in scenery, and intriguing human history. We all came back on board with our hearts filled with joy and ease. The sun setting on one side of the horizon and the full moon rising up in the other were an ideal farewell for this day in paradise.
