Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We awoke today to perfect conditions for early outings at Bartolomé Island, with the sun shining softly, bathing the volcanic landscape with golden light that invited us to reach the top of this tiny volcanic cone on the eastern side of the bigger island of Santiago. We climbed up the three hundred and seventy two steps, marveling at the beauty and wildness of the terrain, which reminded us of the landscape of the moon.
This island is characterized by the beauty of its scenery as well as by the richness of its waters. It was here that while exploring the shoreline our guests observed a group of at least forty small but very active white-tipped reef sharks. Attracted by the warm, rich, and considerably calm waters of the beach, they performed an interesting display of social interaction that stimulates them to be more sexually active among themselves. Nowhere else in the Galápagos can one find another kind of shark that could be so easily observed by the visitors while displaying such interesting behavior.
The snorkeling in Bartolomé is one the greatest in the Galápagos and is accessible for non-experienced swimmers as well. It was here we enjoyed observing the Galápagos penguin and sea lions hunting the fish that make up their diet.
In the afternoon, we had a very calm wet landing at James Bay on Santiago Island, where the Galápagos sea lions remain basking on the black sand beach for hours, not interrupted by our presence there. We went to explore the shore of this bay, and perched on the tree, we found a Galápagos hawk looking around for prey. We kept walking until we arrived to the fur sea lion grottoes. Once upon a time, this species was abundant, but because of hunting, their population was reduced to a couple of thousand, nowadays protected by the Galápagos National Park.
We retuned to the ship at sunset, aglow with the feeling that we had lived a dream in these wonderful islands.
We awoke today to perfect conditions for early outings at Bartolomé Island, with the sun shining softly, bathing the volcanic landscape with golden light that invited us to reach the top of this tiny volcanic cone on the eastern side of the bigger island of Santiago. We climbed up the three hundred and seventy two steps, marveling at the beauty and wildness of the terrain, which reminded us of the landscape of the moon.
This island is characterized by the beauty of its scenery as well as by the richness of its waters. It was here that while exploring the shoreline our guests observed a group of at least forty small but very active white-tipped reef sharks. Attracted by the warm, rich, and considerably calm waters of the beach, they performed an interesting display of social interaction that stimulates them to be more sexually active among themselves. Nowhere else in the Galápagos can one find another kind of shark that could be so easily observed by the visitors while displaying such interesting behavior.
The snorkeling in Bartolomé is one the greatest in the Galápagos and is accessible for non-experienced swimmers as well. It was here we enjoyed observing the Galápagos penguin and sea lions hunting the fish that make up their diet.
In the afternoon, we had a very calm wet landing at James Bay on Santiago Island, where the Galápagos sea lions remain basking on the black sand beach for hours, not interrupted by our presence there. We went to explore the shore of this bay, and perched on the tree, we found a Galápagos hawk looking around for prey. We kept walking until we arrived to the fur sea lion grottoes. Once upon a time, this species was abundant, but because of hunting, their population was reduced to a couple of thousand, nowadays protected by the Galápagos National Park.
We retuned to the ship at sunset, aglow with the feeling that we had lived a dream in these wonderful islands.
