Bartolome & Las Bachas, Santa Cruz Island
This morning dawned with flat waters and a rising sun that reflected off a platinum sea. At 6:30am most guests set off up a serious set of wooden steps in order to visit the island of Bartholomew, iconic island of the archipelago. A view of the pinnacle rock that leans over the bay was the gift to all who reached the top. Perfect crescent beaches of golden sand divided by a mangrove-green forest could be seen below us; volcanic cones of spatter and cinder lay about below, barren and exposed. There is little vegetation to hide them here on Bartholomew.
The blue-green sea surrounded us. Across the narrow channel lay the island of Santiago with a lava flow of little over 100 years, a reminder of the youth of the archipelago, yet of the eternal nature of the earth and all who inhabit it; older layers supporting younger layers, newly exposed to the harsh realities of life above. The gentle but persistent forces of the wind and waves have eroded the fragile volcanic ash of our island, sculpting an impressive shoreline; the hard basaltic lava is the last to let go and tumble into the sea.
The afternoon events took us to a location known as “Las Bachas” on the northern coast of Santa Cruz Island where, over the last few weeks, green marine turtles have left their indelible tracks and nests; nestlings will hatch soon and start the process of life all over again.
Marine iguanas walked among the beach towels on their way to the sea and their feeding grounds. Great blue herons stood still as the waters in the lagoons. Flamingos continued their filtering feeding for minute crustaceans in a shallow pond behind the sandy beach filled with turtle tracks. So close we could hear them, their salmon-pink coloration bounced off the still, shallow water. To improve success a few of these brilliant individuals danced the flamenco in place, stirring up the muddy bottom in hopes of creating better densities of brine shrimp. Black-necked stilts, spotted sandpipers and semi-palmated plovers shared the tiny lagoon. Two iridescent individuals flew overhead to another pond down the beach.
The red sun set on a day remembered.
This morning dawned with flat waters and a rising sun that reflected off a platinum sea. At 6:30am most guests set off up a serious set of wooden steps in order to visit the island of Bartholomew, iconic island of the archipelago. A view of the pinnacle rock that leans over the bay was the gift to all who reached the top. Perfect crescent beaches of golden sand divided by a mangrove-green forest could be seen below us; volcanic cones of spatter and cinder lay about below, barren and exposed. There is little vegetation to hide them here on Bartholomew.
The blue-green sea surrounded us. Across the narrow channel lay the island of Santiago with a lava flow of little over 100 years, a reminder of the youth of the archipelago, yet of the eternal nature of the earth and all who inhabit it; older layers supporting younger layers, newly exposed to the harsh realities of life above. The gentle but persistent forces of the wind and waves have eroded the fragile volcanic ash of our island, sculpting an impressive shoreline; the hard basaltic lava is the last to let go and tumble into the sea.
The afternoon events took us to a location known as “Las Bachas” on the northern coast of Santa Cruz Island where, over the last few weeks, green marine turtles have left their indelible tracks and nests; nestlings will hatch soon and start the process of life all over again.
Marine iguanas walked among the beach towels on their way to the sea and their feeding grounds. Great blue herons stood still as the waters in the lagoons. Flamingos continued their filtering feeding for minute crustaceans in a shallow pond behind the sandy beach filled with turtle tracks. So close we could hear them, their salmon-pink coloration bounced off the still, shallow water. To improve success a few of these brilliant individuals danced the flamenco in place, stirring up the muddy bottom in hopes of creating better densities of brine shrimp. Black-necked stilts, spotted sandpipers and semi-palmated plovers shared the tiny lagoon. Two iridescent individuals flew overhead to another pond down the beach.
The red sun set on a day remembered.
