Walter Perez, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
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Daily Expedition
Reports
13 Feb 2020
Plazas Island and Santa Fe, 2/13/2020, National Geographic Islander
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander
Galápagos
Our exploration of the Galapagos islands has led us to Plazas Islet today. We had the opportunity to see our first conolophis cristatus land Iguanasm, and they were all over the place eating opuntia cactus! Others were seen fighting for a bite. Later in the afternoon we visited Santa Fe Island for some kayaking in the beautiful bay surrounded by marine turtles and rays. We then hiked along a trail and spotted our second species of land iguana, the conolophus palidus.
Back on board the activities continued with recaps, and naturalist shared new information about the Galapagos Islands. There is a lot to learn aboard National Geographic Islander!
Ixora was born in the Galapagos Islands, back when the streets were made of sand and gravel. Void of TV and tablets, her childhood friends and pristine natural surroundings made for an inspiring upbringing. She was always drawn to the ocean and her l...
Walter was born in a very small town on the mainland of Ecuador. His first trip to the Galápagos was when he was 12 years old, visiting friends and aunt, who had moved to the islands. From the first moment he saw the Islands, he fell in love with the...
Early in the morning, we woke up as the ship navigated along the northeastern corner of the Galápagos Archipelago. Slowly, the sun appeared above the clouds that surrounded the majestic caldera of Genovesa, the Island of the Birds. We had reached the final full day in the Galápagos Islands. After six hours of navigation, our first activity of the day took place as we dropped anchor. The morning opened with kayaking and paddleboard outings along the cliff of an old collapsed caldera. After breakfast, the Zodiacs, our best tools for exploration, were lowered, and off we went to explore Darwin Bay. We had the opportunity to take magical pictures of different species of marine birds. The morning activities ended with a great snorkeling. As we swam, plenty of colorful fish and Galapagos sea lions surrounded us. It was a phenomenal experience! In the afternoon, our excursion took place at Prince Philip’s Steps. We walked through green incense trees and the yellow cordia forest that led us to a lava field. During our walk, we sighted red-footed boobies by the hundreds. The largest population of the world lives on the island. We also found many frigatebirds and the endemic Nazca boobies with their chicks. We ended our walk as the sun was setting, and we returned to the ship with great memories. It was a fantastic day in the northeastern part of the archipelago.
A clear sky received National Geographic Islander in the middle of the islets around Chinese Hat and Santiago Island. The first activity was kayaking along the channel in between Chinese Hat and Santiago Island. We explored the area with Zodiacs and kayaks. We were looking for wildlife, as this site is home for small colonies of Galapagos penguins and sea lions. In the afternoon, we went hiking on a very young lava flow, just over 100 years old. This lava flow covers a big portion of Santiago Island, and it is a good place for understanding how life started in the Galapagos. We walked around a great area of the flow, finding endemic lava cactus and insect species.
This morning, National Geographic Islander guests visited South Plaza Island. The coloration of Sesuvium sp is perfect against the deep blue of the ocean. The rocky trail–home to swallowed-tailed gulls, lava lizards, and marine iguanas–led us to the rocky shore. We found a big colony of Galapagos sea lions playing along the coast. In the afternoon, Santa Fe Island offered us the chance to observe unique species like the Santa Fe land iguana, which is quite different from the Galapagos land iguana. Santa Fe land iguanas are not only bigger in size, but much more of a pale yellow in coloration. A boulder trail, surrounded by a dense forest of treelike cactus called Opuntia, ended at a white sand beach crowded with a colony of sea lions resting at sunset.
