It is almost 9:00pm, and it’s been an astonishing day of exploration along the central area of the Galapagos archipelago. Today, the leeward side of Santa Cruz island welcomed us with its fascinating beauty. Our first stop was on Dragon Hill, a low lying hill which is home to a healthy population of the Galapagos land iguana – Conolophus subcristatus -. We are extremely lucky to witness these wonderful dragons roaming freely around this trail. Considering that Santa Cruz has been affected by several introduced species such as dogs, cats and goats, the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Station has made great efforts to restore the population of these enigmatic reptiles since the 1970s.
Bird watchers had the chance to discover several species along the trail including medium ground finches, great-blue herons, mocking-birds, yellow warblers, flycatchers and black-necked stilts. As if all this amazing fauna were not enough, we were also amazed by the stunning flora, a combination of evergreen littoral vegetation combined with the desert-like vegetation around Dragon Hill, including gigantic Opuntia cacti and fragrant holy stick trees. Finally, an overwhelming view rewarded us as we reached the summit of the land of the dragons. After this walk, we embarked our Zodiacs to reach Guy Fawkes Islet. In this islet, we snorkeled along a beautiful reef wall with a large variety of tropical fish and some white-tipped sharks. To finish this exciting morning, for lunch, our experienced local chefs prepared an Ecuadorian feast with a wide variety of local delicacies. I have to admit, this is my favorite menu of the week, a combination of coastal and highlands dishes, just perfect!
After a magnificent feast, we had an interesting lecture onboard about oceanography, given by our naturalist Cindy Manning, who shared her knowledge about marine currents, Galapagos weather and its effect on the unique marine and terrestrial biodiversity of this archipelago. Later in the afternoon, we navigated around Bainbridge Islands looking for marine life. After that, we circumnavigated Daphne Major, a famous islet where biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have returned for more than 30 years to measure finch beaks. They have been able to keep a record of finches’ beak size, wing length, toe length and leg length. With more than 30 years of data collected, they have discovered how variation in beak size can make a difference in the survival and evolution of Darwin´s finches. With a glass of wine and the incredible view of Daphne Major Islet, we celebrated the fact that we are privileged to visit a place that has inspired such remarkable contributions to our understanding of life and evolution. As I am finishing another day of exciting exploration aboard the National Geographic Endeavour, I can only be thankful for the gift of calling these extraordinary islands, home.
