Santiago Island
This morning we had two early, pre-breakfast options: a hike into the palo santo forest behind Espumilla Beach and kayaking from our anchorage off Espumilla to Buccaneer Cove. Naturalists Sofia and Fernando led the hikers through a grove of button mangroves, up a scoria hill and into an amazing palo santo forest with some of the largest trees one can find in Galápagos. We located a female hawk and her two escorts; interestingly, Galápagos hawks are polyandrous which means that one female often has several mates, and sometimes as many as eight! We think we briefly spied a short eared owl and a trio of the endemic large billed flycatchers.
Ernesto led the kayakers under the impressive tuff cliffs, into a shallow cave and along the light reddish sand beach of Buccaneer Cove where long ago pirates would careen their ships for repairs. This was a spectacular kayak outing, the hike was magical, and hikers, kayakers and naturalists alike were all more than ready for a hearty breakfast once we had returned to the National Geographic Islander.
We repositioned to Buccaneer Cove, the Captain dropped anchor and following lunch we again had several options to choose from: this time snorkeling, kayaking or a Zodiac ride. The snorkeling was fabulous – the best so far this week! There were many colorful fish, a black tipped reef shark, an eagle ray and most exciting of all, a 10-foot manta ray! The ray was curious and circled the Zodiac riders and the kayakers and the snorkelers so that many of us were able to admire him.
Zodiac riders and kayakers explored the rocky coast, spotting blue footed boobies, pelicans and noddy terns. The paddlers entered a shallow cave and decided to paddle all the way back to the ship. A wonderful morning was had by all!
Ernesto gave an entertaining and education presentation on Charles Darwin after siesta time and while the Captain navigated to our afternoon visitor site. At 15:30 we all rode the Zodiacs into shore for a walk at Puerto Egas. Shore birds and fur seals were perhaps the highlight of the walk along the lava shores here, and there was an amazing amount and variety of wildlife to see. Lava herons were chasing tiny Sally Lightfoot crabs, an octopus came out of the water after a crab, and we found a resting yellow crown night heron. At the grottos we found a half-dozen fur seals, some resting and some active and playing on-shore. As the evening approached we returned to the ship, our hearts and souls filled with joy and satisfaction: we are indeed privileged to be exploring these enchanted islands.
