Santiago Island
Many islands in the Galápagos have several names: The Spanish name, the English names (which were various) and the Ecuadorian name. Santiago Island is known as well as James or San Salvador. It is the fourth largest island of the archipelago. And it is an example of restoration of and affected ecosystem. Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic adopted this island to support conservation efforts such as the eradication of goats and feral pigs.
Today we spent all day exploring Santiago. Darwin spent 9 days in this island. We travelled through history: from the discovery of the Galápagos Islands to the time of pirates; from the first settlers to the actual programs to conserve the islands. Early in the morning we disembarked at Espumilla Beach, a dense mangrove area on the brown beach is the beginning of the walk that conduce us to a Palo Santo forest. We could smell the delicious smell of the sap of these trees; and as it was early, before breakfast, many land birds were observed such as finches and mockingbirds, their songs added music to our walk.
We came back for breakfast and after getting our energy back, we enjoyed a hands-on session with our Photo Instructor. We were ready then for our snorkeling and Zodiac rides at Buccaneer’s Cove. This place was a common area of anchorage for buccaneers, pirates and privateers, a majestic rock standing in the sea represents with amazing similarity the Bishop Thomas de Berlanga, the discoverer of the Enchanted Islands.
In the afternoon we visited Puerto Egas. We found remains of the salt mine that was worked for years here. We walked along the shore looking for birds such as herons and oyster catchers. At the end of the walk we found some fur seals under the shade of their caves. One of them, ignoring the heat of the day, forgot his nocturnal behavior and jumped in the water and showed us his best movements. We came returned with the sunset at our backs…back to our home, back to our National Geographic Islander.
