Bartholomew & Santiago Islands
Today we had an incredible sunrise that filled the morning with great warm light. Before breakfast we started climbing to the top of Bartholomew Island where we had a great panoramic look of some of the surrounding islands, and the spectacular view from the top.
Bartholomew Island with the magnificent view of the pinnacle rock, and the two gold sandy beaches surrounded by bright blue waters, has become famous as one of the most photographed landscapes from Galápagos.
We came on board to replenish our energies back with a satisfying breakfast on the teak deck, allowing us to enjoy the great morning breeze and the volcanic landscape of the area.
The different options allowed everyone to have an opportunity to explore the underwater realm of the island. That was combined with a short walk to the southern side of Bartholomew; once there we spotted some white tipped reef sharks that were slowly swimming very close to the shore.
After navigating along the northern side of Santiago Island we reached its western coast. We went ashore to snorkel from the beach with sea lions and large schools of fish. We also walked along the coast of Puerto Egas and encountered several marine iguanas returning to the warm lava rocks that they use for resting together in large numbers.
We saw one great blue heron hunting around the intertidal zone, while an American oystercatcher started to break the shell of a green sea urchin and ate it really quickly.
Several male Galápagos sea lions were observed establishing territories, while pregnant females were resting and relaxing on the beach.
The last rays of the sun brought golden red light over the hills as the clouds turned pink color, what a great sunset! We left Santiago and explored in to our memories the highlights of the day and the week, for all of us it has been great, fun and inspiring.
Today we had an incredible sunrise that filled the morning with great warm light. Before breakfast we started climbing to the top of Bartholomew Island where we had a great panoramic look of some of the surrounding islands, and the spectacular view from the top.
Bartholomew Island with the magnificent view of the pinnacle rock, and the two gold sandy beaches surrounded by bright blue waters, has become famous as one of the most photographed landscapes from Galápagos.
We came on board to replenish our energies back with a satisfying breakfast on the teak deck, allowing us to enjoy the great morning breeze and the volcanic landscape of the area.
The different options allowed everyone to have an opportunity to explore the underwater realm of the island. That was combined with a short walk to the southern side of Bartholomew; once there we spotted some white tipped reef sharks that were slowly swimming very close to the shore.
After navigating along the northern side of Santiago Island we reached its western coast. We went ashore to snorkel from the beach with sea lions and large schools of fish. We also walked along the coast of Puerto Egas and encountered several marine iguanas returning to the warm lava rocks that they use for resting together in large numbers.
We saw one great blue heron hunting around the intertidal zone, while an American oystercatcher started to break the shell of a green sea urchin and ate it really quickly.
Several male Galápagos sea lions were observed establishing territories, while pregnant females were resting and relaxing on the beach.
The last rays of the sun brought golden red light over the hills as the clouds turned pink color, what a great sunset! We left Santiago and explored in to our memories the highlights of the day and the week, for all of us it has been great, fun and inspiring.
