Dragon’s Hill and Chinese Hat

We had perfect weather for our activities at Dragon’s Hill. Calm seas and sunshine are not usual this time of the year since July is the beginning of the dry season. Dragon’s Hill is at the northwest reach of Santa Cruz Island.

The population of land iguanas was at one time dramatically reduced to only about seventy individuals. The eradication of the introduced species like dogs, cats and even donkeys gave the flora and fauna a chance to recover from the many introduced predators. This is one of the visitor sites which offers us a chance to see how the population of endemic species are restored by the efforts of the Galápagos National Park. This was once a place where the land iguanas had to be moved to nearby islets in order to protect them from the predation.

The land iguanas were studied by early scientists of the Galápagos Islands, and the last good count of individuals occurred around 2001. By then there were more than 300 individuals. This morning we counted 12 land iguanas, which is very active fairing for territory.

After that morning walk, we returned to the ship for a few minutes to get ready to snorkel in the collapsed volcano of the Guy Fawkes islet. The snorkel included some swimming against the current, but the enthusiasm of our guest overcame that difficulty with the help of the sea lions and tons of fish of different types that kept us company.

The National Geographic Endeavour sailed northwest to Chinese Hat, a very small volcano near Santiago, also called James Island, which is surrounded by small spatter cones with a very beautiful bay.

The afternoon was good. Once again kayakers and snorkelers enjoyed the waters at the same time. A very small colony of Galápagos penguins lives here nesting in the lava tubes and feeding in this cold nutrient-rich waters of the islands. This third smallest penguin in the world is the only one found on the equator, his ancestors – the Magellan penguin – arrived on the islands many years ago, and have reduced their body sizes in order to cope with the limited amount food and drastically different water temperature.

This is what makes Galápagos so unique, and for very good reason it is considered one of the finest UNESCO World Heritage sites.