Bartolome and Santiago Islands
Today we visited the tiny islet of Bartolome and the large central island of Santiago. Bartolome is a great island for geology, for snorkeling with penguins and for wonderful viewing from the glass-bottom boat. Santiago is the island that we on the Polaris have “adopted” and we are involved in restoring its natural ecosystem. Santiago is a good place to find fur seals, and to encounter piles of marine iguanas basking in the sun. And we didn’t just see a few species or a couple of interesting sightings. Today, as in the days past, we saw it all!
To make the most of our last day in the Galápagos, we started the morning quite early. By seven o’clock many of us were climbing to the top of the highest peak of Bartolome Island. By then we had already learned about parasitic spatter cones, and young basaltic lava flows. And by noon many of us had had the marvelous adventure of swimming among white-tip reef sharks and flitting penguins.
By one o’clock everyone had indulged in the wonderful passion fruit mousse dessert prepared by our excellent galley, so we were all “passionate” about the snorkeling in the afternoon. Fur seals, shore birds and a frenzy of feeding boobies and terns waited for us along the grottos of Puerto Egas. By six we were watching the sun set behind the largest island of Isabela. It was an exciting, complete, and wonderful final day to our voyage. We saw it all this week!
Today we visited the tiny islet of Bartolome and the large central island of Santiago. Bartolome is a great island for geology, for snorkeling with penguins and for wonderful viewing from the glass-bottom boat. Santiago is the island that we on the Polaris have “adopted” and we are involved in restoring its natural ecosystem. Santiago is a good place to find fur seals, and to encounter piles of marine iguanas basking in the sun. And we didn’t just see a few species or a couple of interesting sightings. Today, as in the days past, we saw it all!
To make the most of our last day in the Galápagos, we started the morning quite early. By seven o’clock many of us were climbing to the top of the highest peak of Bartolome Island. By then we had already learned about parasitic spatter cones, and young basaltic lava flows. And by noon many of us had had the marvelous adventure of swimming among white-tip reef sharks and flitting penguins.
By one o’clock everyone had indulged in the wonderful passion fruit mousse dessert prepared by our excellent galley, so we were all “passionate” about the snorkeling in the afternoon. Fur seals, shore birds and a frenzy of feeding boobies and terns waited for us along the grottos of Puerto Egas. By six we were watching the sun set behind the largest island of Isabela. It was an exciting, complete, and wonderful final day to our voyage. We saw it all this week!
