Sombrero Chino and Santiago Islands
Impressive volcanic formations surround this turquoise channel of water where several animals are found, among them is one you may not expect to see at the Equator, the elegant Galápagos penguin. There are not too many at this location but there are certainly enough to content our souls and eyes. From our comfortable perch on the Zodiacs, we watch these birds put on their best show. As we continued our exploration we saw the always inquisitive sea lions, the dinosaur-looking marine iguanas and several other shore birds. That was fun! But wait...we had something else to do, swim with penguins!
Yes, we went into the sea and watched the penguins flying through the water to catch fish. We were swimming along with them in warm waters, unbelievable but true, this is the Galápagos where anything can happen – you can even see white-tip reef sharks, rays, eels and penguins together!
To finish this fantastic morning the captain took the National Geographic Islander towards a nearby islet, part of Bainbridge Rocks, which has a saline lagoon where up to 72 flamingos were spotted from the top of the ship.
In the afternoon, after listening to a lecture on Darwin given by Walter, we anchored at Sullivan Bay, between Bartolomé and Santiago islands. We landed in the black lava flow of Sullivan Bay, a pahoe-hoe type of lava, a Hawaiian term that means ropy lava. Here we observed an amazing array of lava patterns: tree molds, driblets, broken hills from the flowing lava, and also pioneer plants in the lava – certain types of plants have dared to settle even though this desolate landscape. Short lava cactus rise from the lava like film heroes defying all circumstances. Our hike finished with the sun sinking behind our backs.
It was another great day in this wonderful place!
