The moonscape around our vessel comes to our eyes early in the morning; many volcanic formations are seen from our anchorage site at Bartolomé Island. Our astonished guests are wondering: why does this place looks so desolated, dramatic, dry like a desert with few signs of life? Here, we explain to them how Galapagos emerged from the bottom of the ocean, how the conditions were created for life, and why Galapagos is a unique place with endemic plants and animals found nowhere else.
At 6:30 a.m. we started our walk that takes us to the summit of Bartolomé, with an iconic view of the pinnacle rock that majestically stands at the side of the bay. Along our way it’s interesting to describe the geology of the place covered by cinder cones, spatter cones, lava flows, and tons of pyroclastic material. The red color of the rocks makes a contrast with the gray color of the tuff formations; sun-basking lava lizards are everywhere, and from the top of the parasitic volcano that forms the islands one can see a breathtaking view that includes James Island and several others nearby. Black lava fields remind us of the first appearance of life at the beginning of Galapagos natural history. Being here is a unique moment of solitude and silence to admire the miracles of nature.
Later we went to the beach for swimming and snorkeling. Galapagos penguins and sharks were all around us, as well as many kinds of multicolor fish. Some of our guests enjoyed the glass-bottom boat to observe the incredible marine life, and afterwards, we came back aboard for lunch.
In the afternoon we moved to Chinese Hat. A very small islet at the sound of James Island, there we did more snorkeling and more swimming along the coast of Sullivan Bay. One of the greatest moments was to swim with penguins, small birds that in the Galapagos are fearless and adapted to warm water. Then to finish our day we planned a Zodiac ride to have the opportunity to take pictures of several penguins we found basking on the black rocks. After a few minutes they started to move inside of small lava tunnels where they live, nest, and overnight.
The sun quickly descended on the horizon, the sky turned orange-blue, and our spirits felt confident and pleased. This is how we ended a marvelous day in this remote island on the Pacific Ocean.
