Sombrero Chino and Santiago Island
The location known as “Sombrero Chino” or Chinese Hat and the Bainbridge Islets were our visiting sites today. Early in the morning National Geographic Islander dropped anchor and after breakfast we started our day with a Zodiac ride along the coastline of Santiago Island and Sombrero Chino, with an unbelievable background created by a lava flow. The jungle of Candelabra cacti and the few Sesuvium, or Galápagos carpetweed, were the only marks of life. We spotted several species of seabirds and land birds such herons, pelicans and hawks while we cruised the calm and azure waters, covered by a very pleasant layer of clouds and creating a very pleasing temperature for the whole ride. The rest of the morning we spent snorkeling. The water was perfect with clear and calm conditions. We saw hundreds of fish such as Yellow-tailed razor fish, Black-stripped salemas, Sergeant majors, Rainbow wrasses, Parrotfishes and a scary 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 our outing a flawless one.
After lunch, our Expedition Leader Paula Tagle delighted us with a cup of naranjilla with rum as we passed by the Bainbridge Islets and enjoyed seeing the flamingos that live inside of the crater. In the afternoon, we continued our expedition with an impressive hike on Sullivan Bay lava field. After landing, we started our walk on very fresh lava that had all possible shapes and forms. Both, smooth Pahoe-hoe lava and rough AA lava were among of our findings together with cinder cones, driblet cones, “hornitos” and other volcanic formations. Pioneer plants, such mollugo were establishing a foothold on the island for the first time. It was as an incredible experience and we really felt as if we were in a strange paradise…
