Dragon Hill & Chinese Hat
Today we visited Dragon Hill. Situated on Santa Cruz Island, this was one of the last places where land iguanas were found years ago. This reptile was menaced by a population of feral dogs, which were introduced to the islands and had a negative effect on our pristine ecosystem. Today the area is recovered and we could observe different iguanas, as we climbed a hill to enjoy the view.
The walk gave us some surprises: a lonely flamingo was spotted at a Coastal lagoon, Carpenter bees were found all over the trail, we even found a spotless ladybug! And of course we saw some iguanas that were looking for shade under the bushes along the trail. During our entire visit we had the strong equatorial sun that warmed us up, getting us ready for snorkeling. We had several groups exploring the waters and some others enjoying the beach.
In the afternoon we moved to Chinese Hat, a parasitic cone next to Santiago Island. We snorkeled, kayaked and played at the beach, plus we ended our day with a Zodiac ride where the highlights were the Galápagos Penguins.
Sunset colors joined us on our way back, a perfect end for a perfect day.
