Today we are visiting one of the finest destinations on earth for wildlife! This is Bartolomé Island. We have just started to explore this magnificent group of islands. It is a mixture of feelings and thoughts about being in a place where sea lions, sea birds and humans can share the land without being a threat each other!

In the early morning, before breakfast, we started exploring a small island called Bartolomé. We started to climb the slopes of this magnificent volcanic landscape. Here, you can see different types of lava and volcanic ash as well as the process of colonization carried out by hardy organisms. These creatures are snakes, lava lizards, insects and small plants that tolerate the prolonged droughts. This type of climatic conditions are typical to this region.

We also have opportunities to explore the Galápagos marine reserve. This reserve is considered to be one of the largest in the world. Therefore it is of enormous importance for science and tourism. You enter the clear waters and you are part of a different world. You are surrounded by a myriad of fish of different sizes and colors. Today we were very lucky because it was not just fish that we saw—we had close encounters with sea lions, penguins, white-tipped reef sharks and at least one sea turtle!

In the afternoon we stopped at Rábida Island and explored the shore riding kayaks. The shore was dotted with seabirds, sea lions, fur seals and marine iguanas. Some of us went snorkeling along the shallow shore. At the time we entered the water we were practically surrounded by black-stripped salemas and many other types of fish.

But we weren’t finished yet. Right before sunset, we landed at Rábida Island. We landed on the beach and we visited a colony of sea lions resting on the most unusual sand. It is red!

We had a great time exploring these two islands.