Bartolome & Santiago Islands
The magic infusing the islands is always amazing. Every day you experience something new. After a walk up to the summit of Bartolome Island, we came back on board for breakfast, and right afterwards we went out for the water activities. We ended up having some astonishing experiences in the underwater kingdom of Galapagos. We got to see so many incredible species: penguins swimming next to us, mating sea turtles, sharks, diving boobies, swimming marine iguanas and a great variety of fish. During lunch our Captain repositioned our ship to the western side of Santiago Island, where we had another visit scheduled: a second outing for water activities, which was followed by another nature walk. Certainly the land activities were incredible, but to our eyes and our minds the beauty of the ocean habitat was unforgettable. We were amazed by the huge schools of sardines, that were being preyed upon by a dozen black tipped reef sharks, blue-footed boobies, frigates, swallow-tailed gulls, brown noddy terns, sea lions, making the whole day one that will forever stick in our memories a “sea day.” During the walk in the intertidal zone, besides the geology that was fascinating, we saw a new species of sea mammal, the Galapagos fur seal. We also saw marine iguanas, fighting bull sea lions, lava herons and many more. We returned to the ship against the backdrop of a great sunset, followed by recaps and the program for the next day’s activities. As a grand finale to a spectacular day we had a special treat, as we discovered that many of the Polaris crew have several talents: Our captain happens to be a great guitar player, and our pastry chef a great singer! They delighted us all after dinner with a great selection of Ecuadorian and South American ballads and songs, after which some Latin dancing ensued.
The magic infusing the islands is always amazing. Every day you experience something new. After a walk up to the summit of Bartolome Island, we came back on board for breakfast, and right afterwards we went out for the water activities. We ended up having some astonishing experiences in the underwater kingdom of Galapagos. We got to see so many incredible species: penguins swimming next to us, mating sea turtles, sharks, diving boobies, swimming marine iguanas and a great variety of fish. During lunch our Captain repositioned our ship to the western side of Santiago Island, where we had another visit scheduled: a second outing for water activities, which was followed by another nature walk. Certainly the land activities were incredible, but to our eyes and our minds the beauty of the ocean habitat was unforgettable. We were amazed by the huge schools of sardines, that were being preyed upon by a dozen black tipped reef sharks, blue-footed boobies, frigates, swallow-tailed gulls, brown noddy terns, sea lions, making the whole day one that will forever stick in our memories a “sea day.” During the walk in the intertidal zone, besides the geology that was fascinating, we saw a new species of sea mammal, the Galapagos fur seal. We also saw marine iguanas, fighting bull sea lions, lava herons and many more. We returned to the ship against the backdrop of a great sunset, followed by recaps and the program for the next day’s activities. As a grand finale to a spectacular day we had a special treat, as we discovered that many of the Polaris crew have several talents: Our captain happens to be a great guitar player, and our pastry chef a great singer! They delighted us all after dinner with a great selection of Ecuadorian and South American ballads and songs, after which some Latin dancing ensued.
