Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We started our day early in the morning with a pre-breakfast outing; we climbed to the summit of an extinct volcano. Geological formations are fascinating here. From the top we had a magnificent view of the whole island, as well as the surrounding islands. The variety of colors of the rusty lavas is striking: red, brown, yellow, and orange. One of the interesting aspects of this little island is the combined feeling of isolation and freedom that you can feel here at the same time. There are very few plant species that are so well adapted to these harsh conditions, the lava cactus among them. This plant that can only grow on solid lava and can survive the whole year with very little water.
We returned aboard to have breakfast; we got our snorkeling gear and headed to the beach, from there we walked to the other side of the island, there we enjoyed the company of a couple of green Pacific sea turtles. There were two females that looked exhausted and were both sunbathing. Right at our feet we could see ghost crabs walking around involved in territorial disputes. It was very amusing to observe the crabs running up and down the beach. A couple of American Oystercatchers flew by our heads
After we left Bartolomá Island we headed towards Santiago Island. At disembarkation (a black sand beach), our wellness specialist conducted a stretching session. Later on we venutred out on walks; we had a great time watching marine iguanas resting while others were fighting for territory. Some herons were also seen catching crabs. We were closely inspected by a very curious Galápagos flycatcher. We were taking pictures of some lava lizards, suddenly the flycatcher decided to investigate our cameras. Once onboard we had the company of a beautiful sunset that we observed from our sky deck while sipping a cocktail.
We started our day early in the morning with a pre-breakfast outing; we climbed to the summit of an extinct volcano. Geological formations are fascinating here. From the top we had a magnificent view of the whole island, as well as the surrounding islands. The variety of colors of the rusty lavas is striking: red, brown, yellow, and orange. One of the interesting aspects of this little island is the combined feeling of isolation and freedom that you can feel here at the same time. There are very few plant species that are so well adapted to these harsh conditions, the lava cactus among them. This plant that can only grow on solid lava and can survive the whole year with very little water.
We returned aboard to have breakfast; we got our snorkeling gear and headed to the beach, from there we walked to the other side of the island, there we enjoyed the company of a couple of green Pacific sea turtles. There were two females that looked exhausted and were both sunbathing. Right at our feet we could see ghost crabs walking around involved in territorial disputes. It was very amusing to observe the crabs running up and down the beach. A couple of American Oystercatchers flew by our heads
After we left Bartolomá Island we headed towards Santiago Island. At disembarkation (a black sand beach), our wellness specialist conducted a stretching session. Later on we venutred out on walks; we had a great time watching marine iguanas resting while others were fighting for territory. Some herons were also seen catching crabs. We were closely inspected by a very curious Galápagos flycatcher. We were taking pictures of some lava lizards, suddenly the flycatcher decided to investigate our cameras. Once onboard we had the company of a beautiful sunset that we observed from our sky deck while sipping a cocktail.
