Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We are experiencing the hot and rainy season in the Galápagos archipelago – we can see it everywhere we go. We have very green and lush vegetation all over the usually dry and arid lava flows. We can also see the change on the behaviour of land birds; we find a lot of mating and nesting finches, mockingbirds, and Galápagos doves, as well as lava lizards and land iguanas. Beyond the vegetation and the frenetic reproduction, we have calm seas and gentle warm breeze. This morning we enjoyed all of these especial aspects of this season. We were gladly surprised by large numbers of marine turtle tracks all over the coast of Bartolomé Island, up to eighty fresh tracks on the intertidal zone. We also had a great walk all the way to the top of an extinct cinder cone. Once we reached the top of the island we had a great view of the most famous landscape of the archipelago. After a great hike on to Bartolomé, we also went to explore the marine ecosystem; we had the company of large schools of fish, sharks, and one marine iguana swimming near by.
This afternoon we walked along the coastal area of Puerto Egas, Santiago Island. We had a fantastic time observing sea lions and iguanas resting close to each other, nose to nose, tail to tail. All the species of animals seemed to be comfortable with us around them. We could only admire their tolerance to each other and to us. What a wonderful feeling to walk by and observe them while feeling grateful for their acceptance.
We are experiencing the hot and rainy season in the Galápagos archipelago – we can see it everywhere we go. We have very green and lush vegetation all over the usually dry and arid lava flows. We can also see the change on the behaviour of land birds; we find a lot of mating and nesting finches, mockingbirds, and Galápagos doves, as well as lava lizards and land iguanas. Beyond the vegetation and the frenetic reproduction, we have calm seas and gentle warm breeze. This morning we enjoyed all of these especial aspects of this season. We were gladly surprised by large numbers of marine turtle tracks all over the coast of Bartolomé Island, up to eighty fresh tracks on the intertidal zone. We also had a great walk all the way to the top of an extinct cinder cone. Once we reached the top of the island we had a great view of the most famous landscape of the archipelago. After a great hike on to Bartolomé, we also went to explore the marine ecosystem; we had the company of large schools of fish, sharks, and one marine iguana swimming near by.
This afternoon we walked along the coastal area of Puerto Egas, Santiago Island. We had a fantastic time observing sea lions and iguanas resting close to each other, nose to nose, tail to tail. All the species of animals seemed to be comfortable with us around them. We could only admire their tolerance to each other and to us. What a wonderful feeling to walk by and observe them while feeling grateful for their acceptance.
