Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
Located at the central part of Galápagos, Bartolomé is a very small island, but incredibly is one of the most visited places due to its beautiful landscapes. Early in the morning we headed to the island and the first attraction were the wooden steps built to get the summit. While we ascended we observed the pioneer vegetation which incredibly conquered this barren place forming a weird landscape. Similar to Mars or a moonscape, Bartolome showed us its geology, with many parasitic cones and solidified lava fields which captivated our guests, especially the famous Pinnacle Rock we observed from the top.
After breakfast, we landed again on Bartolomé, but this time it was for snorkeling, which was amazing. As soon we began to swim, we observed six black tipped reef sharks swimming in circles around black stripped salemas waiting for the opportunity to feed on them. A short distance away a group of penguins, like the sharks, tried to obtain food chasing fish, swimming like torpedoes very fast so that they didn’t notice the presence of a big white tipped reef shark; certainly the shark was not interested on penguins and swam indifferently through the deeper area. When we thought all was over, on the beach three baby sea turtles appeared suddenly abandoning their nest walking hasty through the sea, knowing that in that place they are easy prey for many predators; it was no more than 5 minutes, but for them it was an eternity.
In the afternoon we started our activities in Santiago Island with kayaking; weather conditions were excellent and our guests enjoyed paddling in front of a black lava field, observing the abandoned house, the last evidence of people who tried to colonize the island many times. After kayaking we landed on the black beach of Puerto Egas or James Bay and started our walking along the intertidal zone, where we observed many new species of birds like the American oyster catcher and whimbrels.
On the rocks, many marine iguanas waited for the last sun rays together, knowing that the only source of heat during the night is their bodies’ heat. Our guests were very interested in crabs, sea lions and the vegetation which was greener than on Bartolome thanks to the moisture received from the mountains that Santiago has.
Finally we got to the grottos, natural swimming pools, home of the fur sea lions, the tiny mammal which came with penguins from the south of South America and nowadays is considered endemic in Galápagos.
Certainly we finished this day after the sunset, but our guests were very happy because today was great!!!!
