Bartolome & Santiago Islands
It is a lifetime opportunity to cruise around the Galápagos Islands, but it is even better to have our first full day visiting these two islands, Bartolome and Santiago. Bartolome is a great introduction to understand the formation of the archipelago because the geology displayed on the island is simply amazing. When we walk along the trail, it seems that we are in another planet or maybe the moon! Looking at the barren landscape, it is easier for us to understand the complexity of the process of adaptation for the flora and fauna, all this during the geological evolution in these volcanic islands.
After reaching the summit of Bartolome, we came back on board for a well deserved breakfast. As soon as we were done, we went ashore once again, but this time our goal was the water. It was a great surprise to encounter on our way to the beach the famous Galápagos penguins. The landing was easy and over a golden “out of a dream” sandy beach. Some of our guests took a short walk across a sand dune to see the white-tipped reef sharks that were swimming so close to the shore that surprised us all. Some others got into the water for swimming and snorkeling almost right away.
The big highlight of the visit was probably a baby sea turtle that was swimming in the area. After couple of minutes of watching it, it swam so close that some of us had to move away to avoid colliding with it.
Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk and snorkeling at Puerto Egas on the island of Santiago. The walk was so great because of the variety of species that we saw along the trail, but even better than that was the amount of memories that were registering in our brains. Those moments made us went to bed dreaming about the next adventurous day to come.
It is a lifetime opportunity to cruise around the Galápagos Islands, but it is even better to have our first full day visiting these two islands, Bartolome and Santiago. Bartolome is a great introduction to understand the formation of the archipelago because the geology displayed on the island is simply amazing. When we walk along the trail, it seems that we are in another planet or maybe the moon! Looking at the barren landscape, it is easier for us to understand the complexity of the process of adaptation for the flora and fauna, all this during the geological evolution in these volcanic islands.
After reaching the summit of Bartolome, we came back on board for a well deserved breakfast. As soon as we were done, we went ashore once again, but this time our goal was the water. It was a great surprise to encounter on our way to the beach the famous Galápagos penguins. The landing was easy and over a golden “out of a dream” sandy beach. Some of our guests took a short walk across a sand dune to see the white-tipped reef sharks that were swimming so close to the shore that surprised us all. Some others got into the water for swimming and snorkeling almost right away.
The big highlight of the visit was probably a baby sea turtle that was swimming in the area. After couple of minutes of watching it, it swam so close that some of us had to move away to avoid colliding with it.
Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk and snorkeling at Puerto Egas on the island of Santiago. The walk was so great because of the variety of species that we saw along the trail, but even better than that was the amount of memories that were registering in our brains. Those moments made us went to bed dreaming about the next adventurous day to come.
