Bartolomé and Santiago Island
Bartolomé Island was among the most inviting landscapes we experienced in these last few days. From the summit of Bartolomé we could see a beautiful setting of about seven surrounding islands as well as the colorful lava flows of Santiago. An early morning wake-up call preceded a hike on the wooden boardwalk that helps us avoid the erosion in the area. Early morning walks are nice and cool, and you very much appreciate the fresh morning air.
After we climbed down these three hundred or so feet from the eroded volcano summit, we had a great breakfast and once again disembarked – this time for a golden sandy beach where we swam and snorkeled. It was the morning highlight!
We shared the water with colorful fish, a couple of Galápagos penguins, sea stars and a couple of sharks.
By the time we finished lunch, we had already anchored at another island. We wet-landed at the black beach of Puerto Egas and enjoyed the last snorkeling of the week, this one just as fabulous as the morning snorkeling, and the black color of the sand combined with the clear water made it very dramatic.
The highlights of the afternoon were definitely a red lipped bat fish that was found dead on the shoreline by one of our young guests and two sea turtles swimming in the grottos.
After the beach, we had an easy walk along the shore of Santiago. We reached the fur sea lion grottos were we found a resident sea turtle sharing these grottos with his friends the sea lions.
This last full day in the Galápagos was a great way to end our week in paradise.
