Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino

This morning, at 6:15, we set foot on the northern part of Santa Cruz Island. Some of us were reluctant to get up so early, but as soon as we saw the magic of the early morning light glancing off the lava rocks and the young cacti we were so marveled that we forgot about how early it was.

As we walked along the beach we found a great blue heron that caught the attention of all the photographers – its white and grayish blue feathers made a beautiful contrast against the black lava of the surroundings.

As we walked inland, we discovered a landscape we had not seen before this week. Plant species like the stark "Palo santo" trees, young cacti, and Merremia with its white trumpet-like flowers growing all over on the bushes gave us a very good idea of how the islands look at the end of the rainy season. Galápagos land iguanas were seen starting to emerge out of their burrows to warm up with the early sun rays as well. As the iguanas were a little bit sluggish from being in their burrows the entire night we had the opportunity to photograph them in many different poses.

Later on in the morning, we made a snorkeling outing at Guy Fawkes. Here we found a spectacular underwater wall full of colorful invertebrates. The concentration of different fish in the shallow areas and the many invertebrates' species along the wall was breathtaking indeed. It was so amazing that we just forgot the refreshing temperature of the water we were swimming in.

At midday, National Geographic Endeavour sailed to the northwest to the tiny island of Sombrero Chino for another magnificent snorkeling outing. This time we were in a narrow channel between the islands of Santiago and Sombrero Chino. Water and light conditions were exceptional, in the shallows we had the joy to observe marine iguanas feeding on algae, lots of young fish that looked just like adults but in miniature, and white tip reef sharks that made their way through as we swam. However, the highlight of the afternoon were the Galapagos penguins that decided to jump out of the water and pose for all of us who were in the water and on the Zodiacs.

Another beautiful sunset allowed us to photograph the Galápagos penguins that were resting on the lava flows of Santiago. We said goodbye to another magical day on the enchanted islands.