Bartolomé & Rabida Islands
This small Island of a bit less than one square mile is one of the most visited places in the Galápagos archipelago – its landscape has captivated the attention of many visitors. Its twin golden beaches, mangroves in between, and the pinnacle rock appear in almost every Galápagos brochure or film. But in order to see this amazing landscape, we had to wake up a bit early and hike all the way to the top of Bartholomew, which is about 600 feet above sea level. Apart from the view, the geology of this place is really very impressive: spatter cones, cinder cones, sunken craters and a few islands in the surrounding area made this pre-breakfast activity very pleasant and rewarding.
Right after breakfast we disembarked at one of the beaches to continue with our morning activities, some of our guests chose to relax at the beach and learn how to snorkel in these shallow protected waters. The more adventurous guests left the beach to explore the underwater life to be found along the Pinnacle Rock. The water temp is around 80F, and all the guests were surprised to see penguins in this warm climate. Other impressive wildlife sightings included white-tip reef sharks, Galápagos sea lions, and many tropical fish as well.
In the afternoon we continued our exploration on an island known as Rabida. This island was inaccessible for nearly two months recently, while the Galápagos National Park Service fought invasive species. This afternoon we had the opportunity to explore its natural beauty, the vegetation is drying off very fast, and that means we are going into the dry season here in Galápagos.
The famous Darwin finches, Galápagos mocking birds, and doves were at their best – they are taking advantage of the good conditions to breed. From the beach a group of kayakers and snorkelers explored the waters around this island.
This was our first full day here in Galápagos, and we are looking forward to more adventure tomorrow in the western part of the archipelago.
