Bartolome and Santiago Islands
Our first early morning outing was a great hike up to the summit of the volcano of Bartolome Island. We disembarked at six-thirty in the morning and enjoyed the clean and fresh air on our way up to the top. Marine iguanas, sea lions, sally lightfoot crabs, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, lava lizards and Galápagos grasshoppers were just some of the happy companions we had on our walk. Beautiful volcanic formations were the highlight of this early morning outing.
Once we had all climbed back down the wooden stairway that took us up, we were taken on board our floating house to enjoy a well earned buffet breakfast. Right afterwards, our Expedition Leader Lynn Fowler briefed us on snorkeling safety. We had a wet landing this time, and after observing marine turtles mating right on the shore of the southern beach of Bartolome, we went up to the northern beach and snorkeled around Pinnacle Rock.
Back again on board the Islander, we had a delicious lunch and took a pleasant siesta to recover before our afternoon outings. In the meantime, Captain Pablo Garces moved our ship around the island of Santiago and anchored at Puerto Egas. Our first two Zodiacs took snorkelers to a black sand beach. Some of our guests who did not want to snorkel again took a leisurely hike along the coast of Puerto Egas. Here we found large groups of marine iguanas, mother sea lions nursing their pups and many species of shore birds: phalaropes, sanderlings, oystercatchers, whimbrels, and ruddy turnstones to name a few. We reached the lava grottos where we observed several Galápagos fur seals. As we headed back to the beach we witnessed a wonderful sunset; a perfect way to end our second day in paradise.
Our first early morning outing was a great hike up to the summit of the volcano of Bartolome Island. We disembarked at six-thirty in the morning and enjoyed the clean and fresh air on our way up to the top. Marine iguanas, sea lions, sally lightfoot crabs, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, lava lizards and Galápagos grasshoppers were just some of the happy companions we had on our walk. Beautiful volcanic formations were the highlight of this early morning outing.
Once we had all climbed back down the wooden stairway that took us up, we were taken on board our floating house to enjoy a well earned buffet breakfast. Right afterwards, our Expedition Leader Lynn Fowler briefed us on snorkeling safety. We had a wet landing this time, and after observing marine turtles mating right on the shore of the southern beach of Bartolome, we went up to the northern beach and snorkeled around Pinnacle Rock.
Back again on board the Islander, we had a delicious lunch and took a pleasant siesta to recover before our afternoon outings. In the meantime, Captain Pablo Garces moved our ship around the island of Santiago and anchored at Puerto Egas. Our first two Zodiacs took snorkelers to a black sand beach. Some of our guests who did not want to snorkel again took a leisurely hike along the coast of Puerto Egas. Here we found large groups of marine iguanas, mother sea lions nursing their pups and many species of shore birds: phalaropes, sanderlings, oystercatchers, whimbrels, and ruddy turnstones to name a few. We reached the lava grottos where we observed several Galápagos fur seals. As we headed back to the beach we witnessed a wonderful sunset; a perfect way to end our second day in paradise.
