Cerro Dragon & Eden Islet
What a wonderful day we had today.
Today we explored the northwestern side of Santa Cruz Island. We had a dry landing at Cerro Dragon, where we planned to search for land iguanas. Approaching the shoreline, we were welcomed with many dramatic landscapes: from the shore to a brackish water lagoon, to a rocky trail and finally, volcanic sand. As we headed further into the island, the colors soon changed, from the green coastline to the suddenly very pale arid zone; from mangroves to Palo Santo trees. A few land iguanas were spotted on this arid and difficult place to live. We all we very appreciative that this is the dry-cool season, can only imagine how hot it could be.
Once the natural habitat of the land iguana was explored, our next adventure led us to the underwater world of Guy Fawkes Islets and snorkeling in its rich waters. Today’s water temperature was 72 F; colorful fish and invertebrates make this place a unique underwater realm.
In the afternoon we navigated towards Eden Islet, where we had a choice to snorkel or take a Zodiac ride around this very interesting place. Many shore birds were spotted, including blue-footed boobies and great blue heron. We also saw a marine iguana, white tipped reef sharks and crabs.
Back onboard the National Geographic Endeavor; we circumnavigated Daphne Major. This island is a very interesting and famous place among geologists, biologists, historians and researchers; it is here that scientists have been studying the Darwin finches for more than 40 years. Today we had a touch of isolation, research and conservation, but I think overall we bonded as we headed towards our next destination sharing our experiences, while the sun sets on the equator. The Galápagos has a mystical thrill for all of us, and certainly met all our expectations today.
