Sombrero Chino and Santiago Island
Early in the morning, National Geographic Islander dropped anchor surrounded “Sombrero Chino” and the Bainbridge Islets, small islets with strange and eroded shapes. After having breakfast we started our morning activities with a Zodiac ride along the coastline of Santiago Island and Sombrero Chino. With a dramatic background created by a barren lava field and an odd-looking forest of Candelabra cactus, we spotted several species of seabirds and land birds such as herons, pelicans and hawks covered with a very pleasant layer of clouds creating a very enjoyable temperature for the ride. Later on we spent the rest of the morning doing one of our favorite activities, snorkeling. Snorkeling conditions were perfect, clear and calm waters along with hundreds of fish such as Yellow-tailed razor fish, Black-stripped salemas, Sergeant majors, Rainbow wrasses, Parrotfish and white tipped reef sharks. Some stingrays and a couple of Galápagos sea lions came to visit us, as well as a solitary Galápagos penguin that was hunting for fish.
After lunch, our Expedition Leader Carlos Romero delighted us with his talk about the most prominent visitor to the Galápagos, Charles Darwin.
In the afternoon, we continued our expedition with an impressive hike at Sullivan Bay. After landing, we started our walk on an extensive lava field made of smooth Pahoehoe lava and AA lava, cinder cones, driblets cones, “hornitos” and other volcanic formations on which pioneers plants started to colonize the area. It was as an overwhelming experience to be there and understand how life started in such an isolated place.