Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We woke up with the first sun rays this morning and we headed towards Bartolomé Island. We started to climb one of the largest cinder cones of this island, after a great hike we reached its summit; from the top we got the most marvelous view of Bartolomé, Santiago Island, Santa Cruz Island, and Baltra Island.
After this walk we returned to our ship for breakfast, just at the end of it we were delighted with the visit of some bottlenosed dolphins, these playful marine mammals were very close to our ship, and some of these dolphins stayed for at least thirty minutes taking a close look at the National Geographic Polaris, all the while swimming and playing. Some of our guests were able to be in the water with them for some time, while others were very happy observing them from the ship and the shore. We also encountered several sea turtles very close to the shore, and we found many sea turtle’s tracks along the coast of Bartolomé, which is a very important nesting place for this amazing reptile.
For the afternoon we had great weather: nice, sunny and warm for swimming and snorkelling and great light for photography with a gentle, cooling breeze during our walk. We had great visibility of almost all the volcanoes of Isabela Island. Along the coast we appreciated our last walk where marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, herons and mockingbirds were our companions at the end of our journey.
We woke up with the first sun rays this morning and we headed towards Bartolomé Island. We started to climb one of the largest cinder cones of this island, after a great hike we reached its summit; from the top we got the most marvelous view of Bartolomé, Santiago Island, Santa Cruz Island, and Baltra Island.
After this walk we returned to our ship for breakfast, just at the end of it we were delighted with the visit of some bottlenosed dolphins, these playful marine mammals were very close to our ship, and some of these dolphins stayed for at least thirty minutes taking a close look at the National Geographic Polaris, all the while swimming and playing. Some of our guests were able to be in the water with them for some time, while others were very happy observing them from the ship and the shore. We also encountered several sea turtles very close to the shore, and we found many sea turtle’s tracks along the coast of Bartolomé, which is a very important nesting place for this amazing reptile.
For the afternoon we had great weather: nice, sunny and warm for swimming and snorkelling and great light for photography with a gentle, cooling breeze during our walk. We had great visibility of almost all the volcanoes of Isabela Island. Along the coast we appreciated our last walk where marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, herons and mockingbirds were our companions at the end of our journey.
