San Cristobal Island
We woke up anchored this morning at one of the most magical places of Galápagos: Punta Pitt. After a wet landing on an inorganic sand beach, we started our the way up the cliffs in order to begin a magnificent hike three-hundred feet up the tuff cones of Punta Pitt. Right at the beginning of the hike we had a curious Chatham mockingbird approach us, and farther into the trail, the splendor of the place was shown as old eroded tuff cones were surrounding us.
As we got to the highest elevation of the trail, we had the opportunity to see one of the most colorful species of this archipelago: red-footed boobies. By the time we reached the border of the cliffs, the sky was crowded by a lot of seabirds that played a natural symphony of sounds. Frigate birds flying, red-footed boobies singing and red billed tropicbirds soaring was part of the wonders that nature prepared for us this morning. On the way back, one of the most spectacular views of the islands was seen from the top of the volcanic cones.
Back on the beach, Galápagos sea lions were the masters of the show as an alpha male was barking all over the place. A marvelous Zodiac ride was the next adventure of the morning in an attempt to witness the wonders of Punta Pitt. Once back on board National Geographic Islander, we pulled anchor in order to continue with the adventure to Leon Dormido.
In the afternoon the adventure just got better, and the big surprise was going to be deep water snorkeling around Leon Dormido. We discovered a symphony of colors all over the rocks, plus Pacific green sea turtles swimming around us and a lot of reef fish — but the main attraction was definitely the Galapagos sharks that were circling us. On the rocks a magical color combination was made out of anemones, sea stars and sea urchins.
At the end of the adventure we enjoyed a peaceful circumnavigation around Leon Dormido. The steep cliffs that were crowded by all kinds of birds made the perfect contrast with the sunset in the background. This has been a wonderful expedition across the Galápagos Islands paradise.
