San Cristobal Island
Located at the eastern end of the archipelago, San Cristobal Island is one of the oldest islands and one of the most beautiful. On this island is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the political capital of the province of Galápagos, and the place of the richest human history as many years ago the first settlers began to inhabit this island.
Early in the morning National Geographic Islander dropped anchor at Punta Pitt on the northeast of San Cristobal. At first sight we could observe the gigantic tuff formations with multicolor beaches at their feet. We landed on a green beach where many sea lions slept indifferently while on the cliffs frigate birds and boobies nested. We headed to the beginning of the trail, which was very narrow and steep, but when we got to the highest part the view was spectacular, with many cliffs and riverbeds created by water during endless rainfalls in El Niño phenomena occurred long ago. Along the cliffs we observed red-footed boobies and frigate birds nesting, as well as many Chatham mockingbirds which are endemic to San Cristobal. As we made our way inland, surprisingly far from the seashore for the distance they had to walk to lay their eggs, we encountered many marine iguana burrows.
After walking, we departed on a Zodiac ride along the seashore and a small islet. We observed Nazca boobies, swallow tailed gulls, shore birds and dozens of seabirds of several species having a feeding frenzy, while in the distance, along the highest formations, patches of bright red succulent Sesuvium brought color to the landscape.
In the afternoon, we started our activities sailing towards Kicker Rock, an eroded yellowish tuff cone located off the western coast of San Cristobal Island. Because it is offshore and surrounded by open water it is an important feeding and nesting area for seabirds. The deep water snorkeling at Kicker Rock was fantastic, allowing many us to observe black tipped reef sharks, Galápagos and hammerhead sharks. The water clarity was good and we found many sea turtles, big schools of fish and along the vertical walls dozens of different species of invertebrates. Once we were back aboard, National Geographic Islander circumnavigated Kicker Rock while we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on deck and reminisced on our incredible week in the islands.
