San Salvador Island
There is so much to say about today, that I do not know where to begin…maybe with sunrise, with the ochre colors of San Salvador Island (or James, or Santiago) reflecting on National Geographic Islander. We were at Espumilla Bay, and early in the morning disembarked for a walk that surprised us with several amazing sightings, above all, the famous and rare woodpecker finch. There were many hawks, other kinds of finches, mockingbirds, white cheek pintail ducks, in surreal scenery of gigantic holy trees.
After breakfast we moved the ship to Buccaneer’s Cove, with its impressive cliffs of tuff and cinder carved in unique shapes. We kayaked along these walls, and also snorkeled its deep waters, entered a cave searching for pirate treasures, had a Zodiac ride, and to top the morning, we all encountered three huge manta rays, at least 12 to 14 foot wingspan, dancing with each other, in something that seemed like a courtship ritual. They dove one after the other and made circles under the boats, under the kayaks, so we could see their white bellies coming from the depth, then the “devil” head, the remora fish on their backs. They splashed the Zodiacs several times and let us share their dance for the better part of thirty minutes.
In the afternoon we had a long walk at Puerto Egas where we found a newborn baby sea lion with mom, in a tidal pool. The mother looked pretty tired, the placenta hadn’t come out yet, the baby seemed intrigued, trying to understand this new world to his eyes, and in front of the whole scene, there was a hawk, patiently waiting, probably for the afterbirth.
San Salvador is Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic's adopted island, an island that has been restored, with no more goats or pigs. Maybe that’s why nature was so generous to us today.
