Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
Monday is our first full day in the Galápagos Islands, and we started with an optional early wake up call. After a dry landing on a small cement dock, we climbed to the summit of the eroded crater of Bartolomé. Three hundred and seventy four wooden steps were constructed by the Galápagos National Park Service to ensure that this beautiful place is going to be well preserved and protected from erosion for many, many generations to come.
The highlights of this morning’s outing included the geological information provided by our Naturalists about the landscape and secondary cones, and the little lava lizards we watched feeding on the flowers of pioneer plants.
Our second morning visit was to the beaches of Bartolomé for a hike and our first snorkeling lessons. We climbed over the sand dunes to learn about the Pacific green sea turtles which come ashore at night on the Galápagos beaches. We observed and counted the fresh tracks of female turtles that have laid their eggs the night before. Once we had donned our equipment and headed off to snorkel we were amazed to be snorkeling with penguins, sea turtles, sea stars and lots of colorful tropical fish!
The afternoon outing took us again to snorkel in Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. Today we could not really decide which snorkel outing was best as both were spectacular! In the afternoon the seas offered big sea turtles, sharks and even a sting ray.
The walk along the rocky, lava shore line showed us a big great blue heron, whimbrels, lots of marine iguanas and sea lions. Near the end of the trail we discovered several picturesque lava grottos which are home to the endemic Galápagos fur seals. These marine mammals were hunted to near extinction during the 1800s and early 1900s for their soft and valuable coats. They are now protected and their numbers have increased.
This evening, back on the ship, we gathered for our traditional recap and briefing in the lounge. Naturalist Daniel showed the underwater footage he had filmed this morning and learned about flight from Karel Liem of the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Shortly after a delicious dinner we headed off to our cabins, all of us content and satisfied after this fabulous first day in paradise.
Monday is our first full day in the Galápagos Islands, and we started with an optional early wake up call. After a dry landing on a small cement dock, we climbed to the summit of the eroded crater of Bartolomé. Three hundred and seventy four wooden steps were constructed by the Galápagos National Park Service to ensure that this beautiful place is going to be well preserved and protected from erosion for many, many generations to come.
The highlights of this morning’s outing included the geological information provided by our Naturalists about the landscape and secondary cones, and the little lava lizards we watched feeding on the flowers of pioneer plants.
Our second morning visit was to the beaches of Bartolomé for a hike and our first snorkeling lessons. We climbed over the sand dunes to learn about the Pacific green sea turtles which come ashore at night on the Galápagos beaches. We observed and counted the fresh tracks of female turtles that have laid their eggs the night before. Once we had donned our equipment and headed off to snorkel we were amazed to be snorkeling with penguins, sea turtles, sea stars and lots of colorful tropical fish!
The afternoon outing took us again to snorkel in Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. Today we could not really decide which snorkel outing was best as both were spectacular! In the afternoon the seas offered big sea turtles, sharks and even a sting ray.
The walk along the rocky, lava shore line showed us a big great blue heron, whimbrels, lots of marine iguanas and sea lions. Near the end of the trail we discovered several picturesque lava grottos which are home to the endemic Galápagos fur seals. These marine mammals were hunted to near extinction during the 1800s and early 1900s for their soft and valuable coats. They are now protected and their numbers have increased.
This evening, back on the ship, we gathered for our traditional recap and briefing in the lounge. Naturalist Daniel showed the underwater footage he had filmed this morning and learned about flight from Karel Liem of the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Shortly after a delicious dinner we headed off to our cabins, all of us content and satisfied after this fabulous first day in paradise.
