Bartolome and Chinese Hat are two of the smallest and most beautiful islands in Galapagos, located just off the eastern tip of Santiago Island. The two islands are the eroded remains of tuff cones, formed after huge eruptions that occurred long time ago.
We awoke with the first beams of sun and headed out to visit Bartolome Island. The wooden steps led us inland, through a spectacular volcanic landscape and dramatic examples of pahoehoe, or ropy lava, with hundreds of small spatter cones, forming a surrealistic landscape reminiscent of a moonscape. The view from the top of the island was spectacular, with Pinnacle Rock in the distance, the sandy isthmus covered by green vegetation and two golden beaches—it was easy to see why this is the most photographed view in Galapagos.
After breakfast, we returned to Bartolome, for a chance to walk and swim along the soft sandy beach. We observed an adult Galapagos penguin that looked a bit different because its back was not black, but white. We watched it curiously as it swam along the shallows trying to catch some fish, and afterwards it abandoned the water to walk freely along the beach, delighting of our guests. As the sun began to warm up the island, we prepared for snorkeling, and the crystalline water was preparing other surprises for us.
Our first two snorkeling outings were amazing, and the last one was truly unforgettable. Deep water snorkelers had the chance to discover the underwater realm with incredible creatures everywhere; as soon as we started, we observed penguins on the rocks and throughout the water, swimming very close to us. Meanwhile, along the bottom, stingrays and white-tipped reef sharks rested lazily, unimpressed by our presence. The ocean temperature as well as the visibility was perfect, making it possible to observe the deepest depths, where some creole fish, barber fish, parrot fish and many other colorful fish fed on green algae. Continuing to the south of the island, the topography of the sea floor changed dramatically, where big rocks formed real natural caves occupied by a great number of fish. We were surprised to find that all of them were actually full of sharks; we observed many of them swimming along the shallows, while others rested under the rocks with their mouths completely opened. We counted more than thirty white tipped reef sharks. It was such a unique experience!!
In the afternoon, the National Geographic Endeavour circumnavigated the southern tip of Santiago arriving to one of the Bainbridge Islets, an extinct volcano with a small lagoon inside, where several greater flamingos were seen feeding on crustaceans. It was a festival of contrasts, with the pink birds, the blue ocean and the green vegetation in front of us.
Afterwards we finally arrived to Chinese Hat, which was baptized in honor of its conical shape, similar to a real Chinese hat. Our guests had another chance to enjoy the calm waters, swimming with an incredible array of creatures—can you imagine having the chance to snorkel with penguins, sharks, rays and marine iguanas, all at the same time? Afterwards, we rode Zodiacs along the coasts Santiago and Chinese Hat islands, observing new lava fields that have resulted from recent eruptions in late 1800s. At the west, the sunset looked magnificent with the last beams lighting the end of this beautiful day. We headed back to the ship for dinner, carrying with us the best memories of this beautiful place called Galapagos.
