Santiago Island
The good karma never ends! Today’s outing was spectacular; our morning started early with a pre-breakfast walk on Espumilla beach at Santiago island. The morning was very pleasant; just few steps from the disembarking point we spotted a juvenile Galápagos hawk perched on the mangroves. Without hesitation we approached this magnificent bird that is the top predator in the Galápagos Islands. While we were hiking others were kayaking. Both excursions were stunning. Seeing mockingbirds, Darwin finches, and giant palo santo trees “holy sticks” were among the highlights. Back on board during breakfast we were sharing our memorable moments with everybody when suddenly a pod of bottlenose dolphins was spotted.
As soon as we finished with breakfast many of our guests joined us for another adventure. This time we took the Zodiacs for a ride along the coast of Santiago Island. We were having a great time pointing out different kinds of seabirds such as blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, and pelicans when the same pod of dolphins that we previously sighted surprised us. At least 500 dolphins surrounded our Zodiacs. In addition, many of our guests decided to explore the underwater realm; the manta rays, sharks, and a variety of fish was staggering. Moreover, sea turtles and sea lions were in the snorkeling area amusing our guests.
The afternoon outing was different; an interior trail took all of us to a bizarre volcanic lava flow with peculiar lava formations. Galápagos fur seals, yellow crown night heron and marine iguanas were found in the area. Furthermore, migratory birds such as whimbrels, plovers, sand pipers, ruddy turnstones and wandering tattlers were sighted in tides pools that got form by the low tide. An incredible afternoon finished with an outlandish sunset.
