Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
The best early morning outing of our lives! What a fabulous way to start our first full day around the Galápagos Islands. We landed on Bartolomé Island in the company of Galápagos sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, blue-footed boobies and Galápagos penguins! We can never have this experience elsewhere in the world…only in the Galápagos. Our early walk became a geology and arrival and establishment lesson; our Naturalists vastly explained the origin of the islands and how the very first species arrived and established here, how they live, what they eat and how they interact with their neighbors. Once on board a pod of bottled-nosed dolphins was spotted around the National Geographic Islander and stayed with us for about half an hour, there were about one hundred and fifty of them. How lucky we were to see them so close from our ship!
Once we had our breakfast, our Expedition Leader Carlos Romero briefed us on the art of snorkeling. The highlight for the second outing of the day was our first snorkeling in the Galápagos with penguins, colorful fish and sharks! In the afternoon we walked on the shoreline of Santiago Island; Puerto Egas was highlighted by the sighting of two or three fin whales that went along with us in the distance, blowing and purposing the whole time, it was an exquisite, indescribable experience. Large marine iguana groups, Galápagos sea lions and Galápagos fur sea lions, shore birds, among many other wild life attractions made this Monday really unforgettable.
The best early morning outing of our lives! What a fabulous way to start our first full day around the Galápagos Islands. We landed on Bartolomé Island in the company of Galápagos sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, blue-footed boobies and Galápagos penguins! We can never have this experience elsewhere in the world…only in the Galápagos. Our early walk became a geology and arrival and establishment lesson; our Naturalists vastly explained the origin of the islands and how the very first species arrived and established here, how they live, what they eat and how they interact with their neighbors. Once on board a pod of bottled-nosed dolphins was spotted around the National Geographic Islander and stayed with us for about half an hour, there were about one hundred and fifty of them. How lucky we were to see them so close from our ship!
Once we had our breakfast, our Expedition Leader Carlos Romero briefed us on the art of snorkeling. The highlight for the second outing of the day was our first snorkeling in the Galápagos with penguins, colorful fish and sharks! In the afternoon we walked on the shoreline of Santiago Island; Puerto Egas was highlighted by the sighting of two or three fin whales that went along with us in the distance, blowing and purposing the whole time, it was an exquisite, indescribable experience. Large marine iguana groups, Galápagos sea lions and Galápagos fur sea lions, shore birds, among many other wild life attractions made this Monday really unforgettable.
