Santa Cruz Island
Today we disembarked on the leeward side of Santa Cruz Island. It was nice right around the landing area as we were surrounded by hundreds of tide pools. When we reached the part of our walk which crosses the nesting area of the Galápagos land iguanas, we saw some adult males protecting their cacti territory, including many nests and burrows. One thing that captured the attention of our guests was the sighting of the newborn iguanas recently out from their nests! These are their first days watching the cacti forest and looking for something to eat; it will possibly be a difficult year for these babies because the rainy season is arriving very late this year. There are not many green plants around for them, which is the reason most of them start their lives eating insects to survive these dry months.
In the afternoon we enjoyed snorkelling in marvellous turquoise waters surrounded by new formations of black lava on a volcanic island called the Chinese Hat. It was great there because we saw many white tipped reef sharks swimming with us right there by the lava. We saw also different kinds of tropical fish and rays.
The last outing we experienced for the day was a boat ride along the young formation of lava just a couple of hundred years old. Along the sea shore we saw marine iguanas laying on the black boulders and warming their bodies before nightfall.
We came back to the National Geographic Polaris watching the last rays of the sunset shine on the Galápagos volcanoes.
Today we disembarked on the leeward side of Santa Cruz Island. It was nice right around the landing area as we were surrounded by hundreds of tide pools. When we reached the part of our walk which crosses the nesting area of the Galápagos land iguanas, we saw some adult males protecting their cacti territory, including many nests and burrows. One thing that captured the attention of our guests was the sighting of the newborn iguanas recently out from their nests! These are their first days watching the cacti forest and looking for something to eat; it will possibly be a difficult year for these babies because the rainy season is arriving very late this year. There are not many green plants around for them, which is the reason most of them start their lives eating insects to survive these dry months.
In the afternoon we enjoyed snorkelling in marvellous turquoise waters surrounded by new formations of black lava on a volcanic island called the Chinese Hat. It was great there because we saw many white tipped reef sharks swimming with us right there by the lava. We saw also different kinds of tropical fish and rays.
The last outing we experienced for the day was a boat ride along the young formation of lava just a couple of hundred years old. Along the sea shore we saw marine iguanas laying on the black boulders and warming their bodies before nightfall.
We came back to the National Geographic Polaris watching the last rays of the sunset shine on the Galápagos volcanoes.
