Dragon Hill & Sombrero Chino
It is 6:30 on a beautiful morning, and to take advantage of the cooler conditions prevailing at this time we are ready with the first group to visit, once again, the great island of Santa Cruz. But this morning’s visit is completely different to yesterday’s. We repositioned overnight to the arid northwestern coast of the island, and here we’ll find no highlands or giant land tortoises grazing in pastures!
The site we are visiting is named Dragon Hill, a name inspired by one of the oldest living creatures on Galápagos. The land iguana, with its colorful yellowish skin, blends in well with the landscape during the dry season because of the dead vegetation, usually golden bushes and spiny thorns that make up shelter for these animals that lack much competition for food supplies and territories. This is an incredible reptile that thrives in the drought-like conditions of the arid zone, usually surviving thanks to moisture gleaned from the small plants and spiny cactus pads and flowers. This area is a very hot place, where humans could not live. At this time of the year the paradise of green plants and one or two freshwater pools provide the required water supply to last them throughout the dry season, when it returns.
We returned to the National Geographic Polaris at just the right moment, when the sun rises high and every square meter starts evaporating water from last night’s rains: it is getting hot and we are getting hungry for breakfast after our early hike.
After a good break aboard the NG Polaris our friends were back in action, as Zodiacs left for deep water snorkeling around the offshore Guy Fawkes islets. Snorkeling in Galápagos is always surprising, and upon entering the water we sighted a rare species, the black tip reef sharks. The rest of the group attempted an adventurous beach landing on a pretty white beach, but the low tidal conditions and swells from the North made the staff change their plans and land on a smaller beach that was more sheltered, found just in front of the little flamingo lagoon.
In the afternoon we sailed towards the Bainbridge Rocks, a group of picturesque satellite islets just off the coast of Santiago Island; our destination was the odd-shaped volcanic cone that earned the name Sombrero Chino, which literally translates as “Chinese Hat.”
Most of our guests decided to snorkel in the clear waters between these magic islands, and encountered penguins, sea lions, marine iguanas and some white tip reef sharks. The stark, spectacular scenery is an unforgettable back drop for both the kayaking and Zodiac cruising options, and the most unforgettable sight, which got even our staff jumping with excitement, was a total of 36 Galápagos penguins on a single rock! Seeing numbers this high is very unusual as we have just a small colony of these delightful birds in Galápagos, confined to places with constant colder water temperatures and where food is available in greater amounts. Normally small groups of one to five are spotted along the shorelines, so this was a great treat. Guests who enjoyed the tiny but stunning white sand beach on the islet were treated to hours of watching sea lion pups frolicking in the surf and a small group of penguins actively hunting little schools of fish in the shallows.
Another incredible day that we will never forget!
It is 6:30 on a beautiful morning, and to take advantage of the cooler conditions prevailing at this time we are ready with the first group to visit, once again, the great island of Santa Cruz. But this morning’s visit is completely different to yesterday’s. We repositioned overnight to the arid northwestern coast of the island, and here we’ll find no highlands or giant land tortoises grazing in pastures!
The site we are visiting is named Dragon Hill, a name inspired by one of the oldest living creatures on Galápagos. The land iguana, with its colorful yellowish skin, blends in well with the landscape during the dry season because of the dead vegetation, usually golden bushes and spiny thorns that make up shelter for these animals that lack much competition for food supplies and territories. This is an incredible reptile that thrives in the drought-like conditions of the arid zone, usually surviving thanks to moisture gleaned from the small plants and spiny cactus pads and flowers. This area is a very hot place, where humans could not live. At this time of the year the paradise of green plants and one or two freshwater pools provide the required water supply to last them throughout the dry season, when it returns.
We returned to the National Geographic Polaris at just the right moment, when the sun rises high and every square meter starts evaporating water from last night’s rains: it is getting hot and we are getting hungry for breakfast after our early hike.
After a good break aboard the NG Polaris our friends were back in action, as Zodiacs left for deep water snorkeling around the offshore Guy Fawkes islets. Snorkeling in Galápagos is always surprising, and upon entering the water we sighted a rare species, the black tip reef sharks. The rest of the group attempted an adventurous beach landing on a pretty white beach, but the low tidal conditions and swells from the North made the staff change their plans and land on a smaller beach that was more sheltered, found just in front of the little flamingo lagoon.
In the afternoon we sailed towards the Bainbridge Rocks, a group of picturesque satellite islets just off the coast of Santiago Island; our destination was the odd-shaped volcanic cone that earned the name Sombrero Chino, which literally translates as “Chinese Hat.”
Most of our guests decided to snorkel in the clear waters between these magic islands, and encountered penguins, sea lions, marine iguanas and some white tip reef sharks. The stark, spectacular scenery is an unforgettable back drop for both the kayaking and Zodiac cruising options, and the most unforgettable sight, which got even our staff jumping with excitement, was a total of 36 Galápagos penguins on a single rock! Seeing numbers this high is very unusual as we have just a small colony of these delightful birds in Galápagos, confined to places with constant colder water temperatures and where food is available in greater amounts. Normally small groups of one to five are spotted along the shorelines, so this was a great treat. Guests who enjoyed the tiny but stunning white sand beach on the islet were treated to hours of watching sea lion pups frolicking in the surf and a small group of penguins actively hunting little schools of fish in the shallows.
Another incredible day that we will never forget!
