Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
The last day of the month was practically picture-perfect – except it was real. The sky on awakening was blue overhead with a few fluffy clouds around the horizon. The wind was blowing as we climbed the stairs to the top of the island – now a boardwalk the entire way to the top. The lunar landscape of Bartholomew was breath-taking in its starkness; just a few lava lizards skittered about under our feet. I found a most interesting track which I think was a centipede from last night, then the curvaceous bends that a snake might have left behind. The gray mat plant and spurge were both in full bloom, although you had to get on your hands and knees to see the flowers.
At the top, spread around us were the central islands of the archipelago: North Seymour, Baltra, Santa Cruz, Santiago and Pinzon. Even some little ones were visible: the Bainbridge Islets, Cousins, Marchena (not-so-small but distant), and one of my favorites, Nameless.
After breakfast and the snorkeling briefing, we headed to the beach to try out our snorkeling equipment. Expert snorkelers took off out around the base of Pinnacle Rock, others learned and practiced closer to shore – and also saw some really good stuff! An octopus was being harassed by damselfish, Giant hawkfish were pretending they weren’t there, a pair of Pacific boxfish appeared (to my delight), and a sea-lion dashed by in a hurry. Someone saw a white-tipped reef shark cruising and a small sting-ray fluttered under a rock to hide.
After lunch had us visiting Sullivan Bay on the coast of Santiago Island. This is an area covering almost 100 square kilometers barely one-hundred years old. In 1897 the eruption was witnessed by a visiting whaling vessel and noted in their logbook. Today we walked on the broken and cracked surface and marveled at the ripples, designs and fanciful figures seen in the surface of the pa-hoe-hoe lava.
Late afternoon is the ideal time to photograph as the shadows are deep, accenting the surface until it looks like a work of art in marble by Michelangelo – only better. Oxide-red cinder cones in the interior contrast their colors with the black lava that crept around their bases one-hundred years ago. We played with shadows and cameras.
Back on board we saw the sun set behind Isabela Island, tempting us with imaginings about our visit tomorrow.
