Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino
This day found us anchored along the shoreline of Santa Cruz Island. Disembarkation this morning on Cerro Dragon was the smoothest of the whole week, the sea was as smooth as a lake. Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) is famous for the Galápagos land iguanas that live in the wild there. The land iguanas live deep inside a cactus forest that around this time of the year is blooming.
As the rainy season is not as its peak yet, almost every land iguana we spotted today was seen under a cactus as a protection from the strong sun. A cactus provides them shelter, shade and food supply. We enjoyed the colorful iguanas every step of the way.
In the afternoon, we visited a young island called “Sombrero Chino”; this peculiar shaped volcano resembles a Chinese hat. The channel between Chinese hat and Santiago Island is very rich in nutrients therefore it has become a home for a small colony of Galápagos penguins, apart from other species such as sharks, stingrays, octopus, and wrasses.
Our snorkelers jumped into the already warm waters and found all that they were looking for. Many were especially interested in sharks. We saw several white-tipped reef sharks, some larger than five feet in length. Some Galápagos penguins also showed up as they were swiftly fishing among us.
We had a great time in the water! The rest of the group also enjoyed this paradise by means of our kayaks, and Zodiac rides. We were surrounded by an impressive candelabra cactus forest and a juvenile Galápagos hawk that watched over us while we were in the area. A couple of juvenile Galápagos sea lions on the tiny white beach added joy to the day for the guests who chose to spend some time at the beach.
It was a wonderful day, the first one of this New Year!
This day found us anchored along the shoreline of Santa Cruz Island. Disembarkation this morning on Cerro Dragon was the smoothest of the whole week, the sea was as smooth as a lake. Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) is famous for the Galápagos land iguanas that live in the wild there. The land iguanas live deep inside a cactus forest that around this time of the year is blooming.
As the rainy season is not as its peak yet, almost every land iguana we spotted today was seen under a cactus as a protection from the strong sun. A cactus provides them shelter, shade and food supply. We enjoyed the colorful iguanas every step of the way.
In the afternoon, we visited a young island called “Sombrero Chino”; this peculiar shaped volcano resembles a Chinese hat. The channel between Chinese hat and Santiago Island is very rich in nutrients therefore it has become a home for a small colony of Galápagos penguins, apart from other species such as sharks, stingrays, octopus, and wrasses.
Our snorkelers jumped into the already warm waters and found all that they were looking for. Many were especially interested in sharks. We saw several white-tipped reef sharks, some larger than five feet in length. Some Galápagos penguins also showed up as they were swiftly fishing among us.
We had a great time in the water! The rest of the group also enjoyed this paradise by means of our kayaks, and Zodiac rides. We were surrounded by an impressive candelabra cactus forest and a juvenile Galápagos hawk that watched over us while we were in the area. A couple of juvenile Galápagos sea lions on the tiny white beach added joy to the day for the guests who chose to spend some time at the beach.
It was a wonderful day, the first one of this New Year!
