Punta Pitt & Leon Dormido
The last day of this week is, just as all the others, one of spectacular scenery, touching wildlife encounters and a celebration of new friendships.
We began in the morning with a hike into the eroded hills of Punta Pitt, which is a cluster of huge tuff- and cinder cones. A golden brown beach awaited the hikers where a swim washed off the warm morning before returning to the ship. Other people preferred to go kayaking along the cliffs of this site and enjoy the scenery once more with a Zodiac ride enabling them to take their SLR cameras. The Zodiac cruise brought us to a small islet where we counted at least twelve different seabird species.
After everybody was back on board the ship, we lifted the anchor and headed south, along the scenic northern coast of San Cristobal. This island could be divided in two parts — one of many spatter- and tuff cones, and the other of a big shield volcano.
The site of the afternoon was again an eroded tuff formation, called Leon Dormido. It stands fierce and alone about two miles offshore, its vertical 300-foot cliffs hosting various seabirds, among them Nazca Boobies, Great Frigate Birds, Brown Noddies.Tuff cones are very prominent along the shores of Galápagos islands. Tuff is formed when an eruption takes place in shallow water bodies; the extremely hot lava literally explodes when it comes in contact with the water, forming a high column of vapor and ash. Once the ash has fallen down a cone is formed. After having been mixed with salt water, the ash undergoes a chemical change and thus becomes a solid kind of sand stone. The magnitude of these events is hard to imagine; what we see today is usually just a small remainder, since the tuff erodes relatively fast. Sometimes basaltic dikes of intrusive lava still stand, while the tuff around these dikes has disappeared.
After a good hour of snorkeling around Leon Dormido, we met again on the top deck to enjoy the sunset and a cocktail while circumnavigating Leon Dormido once more. Every angle of this formation is unique and makes for great pictures. Believe it or not, but a Bryde’s whale, accompanied by Mobula rays, showed up feeding off the bow just as the sun was setting.
