Today we enjoyed our last day of a fantastic expedition exploring in the Galapagos Islands. This time, exploration took us to one of the oldest Islands which is found east in the archipelago, San Cristobal. The best way to begin was to sense the wonders of nature at Punta Pitt. After a comfortable wet landing we got everything ready to climb up the cliffs for a marvelous hike.
On our way along the trail we saw an interesting combination of dry and green vegetation as we were facing the driest side of the Island. As we reached the highest point of the trail we had a fantastic view of the bay. The magnificence of the place was displayed as we witnessed giant tuff cone formations all around us. Later on in our visit we started exploring the cliff area in order to find one of the most emblematic species of Punta Pitt, the red footed boobies.
Once we reached the opposite end of the trail we finally saw these magnificent birds as they occupied the green bushes for nesting. The color combination that red footed boobies have on their bodies was something to see. We saw different species of land birds that could be found in the area, such as Chatham mockingbirds, small and medium ground finches. San Cristobal lava lizards were our companions throughout the visit until the moment we started heading back to the beach.
As soon as we arrived back to the beach the sky was totally clear, so we had the opportunity to enjoy the shiny color the inorganic sand of Punta Pitt has as there are volcanic crystals in its composition. Once back on board the National Geographic Islander we pulled anchor in order to start navigation to our next destination, Leon Dormido.
In the afternoon exploration got even better with a visit to a fantastic sandy area at Cerro Brujo. Galapagos Sea lions decorated the area along the shore line and at the very end of the beach blue footed boobies along with brown pelicans were diving into the water for food.
As soon as we returned we had everything ready for navigating by Leon Dormido. At the end of exploration we enjoyed a delightful sunset as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. There is no way the Galapagos Islands exploration could have been better and today we had a magnificent taste of it by exploring San Cristobal Island.
