Northwestern Santa Cruz Island
Today we explored the northwestern side of Santa Cruz Island. We had a dry landing on a rusty and hot but outstanding area known as Dragon Hill, and were excited to walk among the wondrous incense tree forests. A sunny day with a nice coastal breeze accompanied us along our way, and the exceptional landscape of the island was our first breathtaking encounter.
As we headed further into the island, colors soon changed, from the green coast line to the suddenly very pale arid zone. Walking through an area of sleeping grey giants (incense trees), waiting for some mist to wake them up and show the pure green leaves to nature; life struggling but present, making a habitat for the many species of Darwin finches and mockingbirds spotted as we continued our hike through the forest.
Behind the arid forest, the land of dragons was hiding; dusty trails and the dry grasses were surrounding the giant prickly pear cacti. Yes! This time the giant prickly cacti were guarding the land of dragons. We were very careful in looking for the Galápagos land iguanas in this area, as the brown and yellow colors of the mature individuals help them camouflage perfectly with the surrounding flora and the dusty ground. Some of us were lucky, for we spotted several individuals, some very active and others shading under the bushes. It was easy to understand the efforts of the Galápagos National Park Service in conserving the population of land iguanas in the Galápagos. Dragon Hill is a good example of this, with the eradication of introduced animals around the area and the repatriation of bred-in-captivity iguana hatchlings back to Dragon Hill.
Once the natural habitat of the land iguanas was explored, our next adventure led us to enter the underwater world around Guy Fawkes Islets by snorkeling in these rich waters.
In the afternoon we navigated toward Eden Islet, where we had a Zodiac ride around this very interesting geological feature, where many shore birds and interesting wildlife were spotted. We saw oystercatchers, wandering tattlers, sea turtles, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, crabs and several species of herons.
Science, nature and the enchantment of the Galápagos couldn’t let us finish the day before taking the chance to circumnavigate Daphne Major Islet. This islet is a very interesting and famous place where a couple of British scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have been working for decades studying Darwin’s finches. We could not have been luckier, for we even saw them from the ship; the scientists were camping in a tent on the islet doing research.
Another day in paradise, a place like no other that refers to an endemic name: The Galápagos!
