Sombrero Chino y Santiago Island
Early in the morning National Geographic Islander dropped anchor in a location known as “Sombrero Chino” or Chinese Hat in the Bainbridge Islets. After breakfast we began our activities with a Zodiac ride along the coastline of Santiago Island and Sombrero Chino, with an incredible background created by a lava flow. The forest of Candelabra cacti and the few Sesuvium, or Galápagos carpetweed, was the only sign of life. We spotted several species of seabirds and land birds such herons, pelicans and hawks. We cruised the calm and azure waters shaded by a very pleasant layer of clouds that created a very enjoyable temperature for the ride. The rest of the morning we went snorkeling. Water conditions were perfect, clear and calm along with hundreds of fish such as Yellow-tailed razor fish, Black-stripped salemas, Sergeant majors, Rainbow wrasses, Parrotfishes and a huge white-tipped reef shark. Some stingrays and a couple of Galápagos sea lions came to visit us as well and a solitary Galápagos penguin that showed up in the last minute making it a perfect outing.
After lunch, our Expedition Leader Paula Tagle delighted us with a celebration and a glass of champagne for our crossing of the equator. In the afternoon, we continued our expedition with an impressive hike on Sullivan Bay lava field. After landing, we started our walk on a relatively fresh lava field that had all possible shapes and forms of lava. We saw smooth Pahoe-hoe lava and rough AA lava and also cinder cones, driblet cones, “hornitos” and other volcanic formations that are home to pioneers plants such as mollugo that are colonizing this island. It was as an incredible experience and we really felt like in a strange paradise.
