Bartolomé and Santiago
Bartolomé is very small, but it is one of the richest islands for interpreting geology that we explore on our Galápagos cruise. Not only we can see a tuff cone, but we can touch and feel the tuff in our hands to help us understand how soft some of these tuff cones are. When we look at spatter cones on the other hand, we sometimes refer to them as lunar landscapes because of their resemblance to the craters of the moon. The gas vents and chimneys at the trails’ sides helped us determine where gases escaped to release pressure from the craters and the lava tubes. The contours along one of the sides of a crater helped us to see how the lava oozed out of that crater.
Climbing up those steps early in the morning gave us the opportunity to take marvelous pictures with the soft light of the rising sun on the eastern side of the island
The water was very refreshing for this time of the year but once we were in the view of the different tropical fish, sea stars, sting rays, penguins and sea lions made us forget how cold the water was.
In the afternoon we had our first opportunity for kayaking along the coast of Puerto Egas on Santiago Island, snorkeling here was also a great experience
The walk in the afternoon was so amazingly beautiful that it was hard to come back on board. To hike here is to be transported back in time – with the large groups of iguanas basking in the sun, the Galápagos fur seals sleeping along the grottos and the Sally Lightfoot crabs looking for food along the tidal pools.
The migratory birds reminded us that soon it will be winter in the northern hemisphere, and the playful sea lion pups filled us with energy to continue this once-in-a-lifetime voyage on board National Geographic Islander.
