Bartolomé & Santiago
This morning we had an early outing to a small but beautiful island that is well-known for its fascinating geological formations. Once we reached the summit of Bartolomé, after climbing 372 steps (!!!), we had a spectacular view of the lunar landscape formed by spatter cones, lava tubes, a submerged caldera and of course the most photographed landscape in the Galápagos, the Pinnacle Rock.
After breakfast we went snorkeling from the beach off Bartolomé where we saw many sea creatures like the Parrot fish, Panamic cushion sea star, Chocolate chip sea star, blennies and many others, however the Galápagos penguins stole the show when they came swimming along the shore.
At mid-day the National Geographic Islander moved to James Bay on Santiago Island for the first outing of kayaks and a second opportunity for snorkeling. At this snorkeling site the highlight was the Green back sea turtles surrounded by many colorful tropical fish.
As soon as we started our walk we found a lava lizard trying to eat a scorpion that was not giving up easily. Along the trail we saw a few Galápagos mockingbirds, a Galápagos hawk, Marine iguanas, and the Galápagos fur seals that were comfortably sleeping in the grottos.
After a walk along the coastline of James Bay we had a beautiful sunset behind the island of Isabela that we could see on the horizon.
