Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino
What a morning! So energetic! To begin with, the tide is extreme now with the influence of the Equinox and we did experience a severe low tide that uncovered several rocks we normally don’t see. Once on the trail, the exuberance of the flora was abundant; the impressive length of the spines of the prickly pear cacti that makes us remember how selective agents can direct modifications in some populations thus making natural selection so easy to understand. (Cacti here have by far the largest spines of all in the entire archipelago due to predation by land iguanas).
On the trail the heat was becoming very intense, and it was only 09:00 in the morning. We check for some iguanas here and there and all of the sudden the miracle of life show off again. Set among the branches of an Opuntia cactus, a mockingbird nest almost invisible came to life. The strident call of two little chicks made all us turn our heads just to find the adult mockingbird feeding the babies. It was overwhelming and we forgot for several minutes the intense heat that engulfed the place. After that brief instant of mesmerism we came back to reality, time did pass so fast and a very inviting ocean was waiting for us. So there we went for another adventure, and we were not disappointed. God, there were so many fish!
In the afternoon Polaris was steered thru the Bainbridge Rocks (a group of tuff cones) and when we approach the biggest of all, Volcano Ecuador; for several minutes we had the glimpse of at least twenty flamingos in a paradise like hyper saline lagoon enclosed into the volcano.
Right after this experience, we began getting ready for the snorkeling along Sombrero Chino’s shoreline where we found some penguins and an innumerable array of multicolored fish. The water was so warm that it was difficult to leave. At the same time we were able to explore the shoreline by kayaks, where we found some shore birds and of course, penguins! The dramatic shapes of the lava in this area makes you wonder how little we really are.
Well, today has been a great day, but… what’s new? That is the dose of goodness we have every day. I’ll try to be conservative in my appreciation about today: Just fantastic!
What a morning! So energetic! To begin with, the tide is extreme now with the influence of the Equinox and we did experience a severe low tide that uncovered several rocks we normally don’t see. Once on the trail, the exuberance of the flora was abundant; the impressive length of the spines of the prickly pear cacti that makes us remember how selective agents can direct modifications in some populations thus making natural selection so easy to understand. (Cacti here have by far the largest spines of all in the entire archipelago due to predation by land iguanas).
On the trail the heat was becoming very intense, and it was only 09:00 in the morning. We check for some iguanas here and there and all of the sudden the miracle of life show off again. Set among the branches of an Opuntia cactus, a mockingbird nest almost invisible came to life. The strident call of two little chicks made all us turn our heads just to find the adult mockingbird feeding the babies. It was overwhelming and we forgot for several minutes the intense heat that engulfed the place. After that brief instant of mesmerism we came back to reality, time did pass so fast and a very inviting ocean was waiting for us. So there we went for another adventure, and we were not disappointed. God, there were so many fish!
In the afternoon Polaris was steered thru the Bainbridge Rocks (a group of tuff cones) and when we approach the biggest of all, Volcano Ecuador; for several minutes we had the glimpse of at least twenty flamingos in a paradise like hyper saline lagoon enclosed into the volcano.
Right after this experience, we began getting ready for the snorkeling along Sombrero Chino’s shoreline where we found some penguins and an innumerable array of multicolored fish. The water was so warm that it was difficult to leave. At the same time we were able to explore the shoreline by kayaks, where we found some shore birds and of course, penguins! The dramatic shapes of the lava in this area makes you wonder how little we really are.
Well, today has been a great day, but… what’s new? That is the dose of goodness we have every day. I’ll try to be conservative in my appreciation about today: Just fantastic!
