Santiago Island, 10/16/2019, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
Today we woke up in the center of the archipelago, at Lindblad Expeditions adopted island, Santiago. This island has an interesting story of introduced animals eradicated with the help of Lindblad Expeditions and the Galapagos National Park, making it today one of the most beautiful places to visit on earth.
In the morning we anchored at Buccaneers’ Cove to explore the island by water, just like buccaneers did. The morning was filled with water activities such as snorkeling, kayaking and glass bottom boat outings. The afternoon was spent on land at a historical site called Puerto Egas. The day ended with a breathtaking sunset hike at Puerto Egas!
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This morning, we started our day in an unusual way. Santa Cruz has the largest human population in the Galapagos, with about 20,000 people. After breakfast, we boarded our Zodiac and headed to the main pier of Puerto Ayora, where all the citizens had already started their day. Buses took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station and National Park Breeding Center facilities. Our guests were eager to learn more about the breeding program for giant tortoises, and they were all enthusiastic to see the specimen of a very famous tortoise: Lonesome George. Naturalists shared a small glimpse into the activities taking place at the fishing dock, where fresh catches were sold. Pelicans and a playful sea lion made the moment extra special as we watched the skills of people busy cleaning the fresh fish. On our way to lunch, we made a quick stop at Don Adriano’s farm to learn about the sugarcane, chocolate, and moonshine that are locally produced. This was definitely a highlight of the day. Guests enjoyed learning about what local communities do to subsist in the Galapagos, in addition to tourism. It was now time for a wonderful lunch at Manzanillo Ranch. Our guests enjoyed the local coffee and the ample space with a wonderful view of very lush land. Afterwards, we took a relaxed and educational walk among giant tortoises, baby white-cheeked pintail ducks, different species of Darwin’s finches, and cattle mooing in the background. What a combo! It was finally time to go back to our floating home, National Geographic Endeavour II . After a very entertaining evening with recaps and cocktails, guests enjoyed the wonders of the local cuisine at dinner. Photo caption: Giant tortoise grazing in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Photo by Christian Saa
We started our day with a pre-breakfast activity to visit Cormorant Point, one of the best places in the Galapagos to see pink flamingos and the nesting areas of Pacific green sea turtles. Right after breakfast, we continued our activities with outings in the glass-bottom boat. Later, we enjoyed drift snorkeling. In the afternoon, we visited Post Office Bay. We explored the area by Zodiacs, kayaks, and paddleboards. Everybody had a chance to visit the famous post office barrel. We finished our day with a marvelous sunset.
The sun was bright as we anchored off the coast of Española Island. Our first activity of the day was snorkeling. We got on the Zodiac and rode to Gardner Islet. The water was crystal-clear, inviting us to swim. We jumped in the refreshing sea to find ourselves accompanied by a group of juvenile sea lions. These lovely animals are very curious and decided to come play with us. They were getting so close; at one point, a guest saw them swimming just an inch away! We kept swimming near very big shoals of different species of fish. In the middle of the fish, our sea lion friends appeared once again. They swam in circles, attracted by us, and us to them, strange figures floating around. We came out of the water to spend some leisurely time on the sandy beach of Gardner Bay. The soft white sand was the perfect place to walk. The main attractions were the sea lions as they relaxed and stretched on the sand. It was an outstanding morning. National Geographic Endeavour II moved to our next place for exploration, Suarez Point. We watched waves breaking along the shoreline, a show so mesmerizing we could spend hours staring at it. We landed and prepared to begin our hike. Marine iguanas greeted us. The ones from Española are the most colorful of the marine iguanas. We walked through a colony of Nazca boobies; a few hatchlings and juveniles seemed very curious about our presence. Listening to the boobies whistle and honk as they arrived to their nests was like a melody. We heard a thunder-like sound in the distance and moved to check it out. It was the blowhole. With the strong waves crashing, it sounded louder and stronger than usual. The water blowing into the air created a stela, which made a beautiful rainbow appear and then disappear after a few seconds. We saw the waved albatross; this time of the year, they come to Española to breed. The courtship of these birds is very elegant. They dance as if they are starting a waltz, bowing to each other before moving their feet in such an odd way. They look so proper for marine birds on land. It is very cute when they rub their beaks together, almost like they are kissing. We observed some couples with an egg. The parents gave the impression of being proud. We came back onboard as the sun was about to set. The colors were incredible. It was just the first day of an extraordinary week to come.
