The sun was shining and the sky was blue when we awoke early this morning, ready for our next adventure. We were at Bartolomé Island, a dramatic landscape covered with spatter cones, cinder cones, small lava tubes, and a very inhospitable environment. Geologist Charles Darwin, who was the most famous visitor that came to Galapagos in 1835, described this type of scenery as “a place where life began and the first inhabitant appeared on earth”
We walked to the summit of a parasitic volcano, and along the way we saw several reptiles, including lava lizards and some iguanas basking on the black lava rocks. The view from the top was breathtaking, you can see the very famous Pinnacle Rock—no doubt it is the most iconic place in the islands. The walk is very educational, and we learned about the geology of Galapagos, and how this archipelago was formed about five million years ago. Afterwards, we came back on board to have breakfast and later on to suit up and return to the beach for water activities.
Galapagos is a place with many beaches of different colors, and today we landed on a golden beach made of tiny pieces of coral and minerals. The bay was calm, the water clear and turquoise, and we found plenty of marine life during our snorkeling excursion. Galapagos is considered one of the top five places of the world for scuba diving and snorkeling, so, this activity is magical. Once you jump into the water many aggregations of fish are seen everywhere, of many different types, colors, and sizes.
In the afternoon, we navigated for about three hours to Rabida, which is red in color due to the high quantity of oxidized iron in the land. Our first excursion here was another snorkeling opportunity, and we experienced many highlights: white-tipped reef sharks, a big marbled sting ray resting at the sea bed, green pacific marine turtles feeding on algae and many kinds of multicolor fish such as king angels, razors, trumpet fish and others.
At 5pm we landed on a beautiful red beach where several sea lions were resting. Just behind the beach, there is a tiny brackish water lagoon where we stopped some pintail ducks, finches, mockingbirds, doves, and up in the sky pelicans, frigatebirds and blue-footed boobies fishing.
The afternoon was spectacular, the sunset reddish and warm. We came back just as the last ray of light disappeared behind the horizon. A few minutes later, millions of constellations appeared in the magical sky. What a great way to finish a magnificent day at Galapagos!
