Santiago Island, 3/13/2024, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
We had an amazing day on this beautiful island, from the morning walk in Espumilla with its tranquility, to the water activities at Buccaneer Bay exposing us to the wonders of the underwater world in this paradise.
The afternoon excursions took place at Puerto Egas with its distinctive landscape. There is plenty of wildlife among the different ecosystems that this area offers us to explore. Many memories were made with our fellow travelers!
Paola was born in the major Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil, raised near the ocean and rivers. Since childhood she felt a deep connection with nature, which led her to settle in the Galapagos Archipelago in 1998, on the central island of Santa Cruz...
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This morning, we visited Espinosa Point located on the northeast side of Fernandina Island. We walked along the coastline to enjoy the volcanic landscape and the Galapagos marine iguanas piled one on top of the other. Some of us found quite a few Galapagos snakes looking to prey on the iguana babies exiting their nests. Flightless cormorants courting, Galapagos sea lions nursing, and hawks mating made it a perfect and beautiful morning excursion. In the afternoon, National Geographic Endeavour II repositioned on the south of the same island to see the lava flows reach the ocean. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the wine tasting on the sun deck as the sun set. It was simply amazing!
Today, during the first day of our expedition in the Galapagos, we visited North Seymour Island. This island is a must see if you visit the archipelago, as it provides home and shelter to many endemic and native species. The highlight of this visitor site is the large colony of nesting frigatebirds which can be observed as you walk along the trail. This morning the island was in all its splendor! We observed countless male frigatebirds with their gular pouches displayed, hoping to find a female frigate with which to breed. As we walked along the trail, we watched several blue-footed booby couples performing their courting rituals and world-famous mating dance to our guests’ delight. Land iguanas were not scarce either. This species inhabits this island and can be observed by the lava rocks, usually looking for vegetation to eat or just peacefully resting under a palo santo tree. Seymour Island didn’t disappoint today, and we can’t wait to explore the rest of the archipelago!
The Santiago Island coast has a green backdrop of large opuntia prickly pear and palo santo trees. As we explore, we encounter Galapagos hawks, brown pelicans, brown noddies, and Nazca boobies along the coast. An invigorating snorkel finishes our morning as we come upon schools of razer surgeon fish, parrot fish, and whitetip reef sharks. In the afternoon, we head to Puerto Egas with a Galapagos croton and palo santo forest that welcomes us as we land on a black sand beach. Hikers encounter Galapagos fur seals and Galapagos sea lions lazing on the coast.
