San Cristobal Island and Kicker Rock
Last night we started motoring toward San Cristobal, one of the oldest islands of Galápagos; a very important detail is that this island was the first stop Charles Darwin made on his five-week trip around this unique archipelago. At the north end of this island is a very dramatic landscape made of several tuff formations. Called Punta Pitt, a few years ago it was considered a very remote place to visit and only a few boats were coming to this magical place, the reason probably was its inhospitable terrain.
The first time I came here was 10 years ago, and I was very impressed by the scenery—it’s sort of a moonscape. This place is unpredictable, in one small area you might see male frigates with their red pouches blown up, blue-footed boobies, red-footed boobies, pelicans, and sea lions body surfing in the waves such as happened this morning. At 8:15a.m. we disembarked for a power hike in search of adventure, and later a panga ride where all the things I described before occurred. Other times can be very deserted, with little life but still tremendously amazing.
During our walk we had the chance to see some sharp-billed ground finches—one of the seven species found on Galápagos, plus San Cristobal lava lizards, and the famous red-footed booby nesting on Nolana galapaguensis shrubs (Galápagos clubleaf); these birds are less commonly seen among the three kinds of these torpedo-like diving birds found on the islands.
Along the shoreline some Nazca boobies were resting on the rocks, while along the trails some female marine iguanas where building borrows to lay their eggs; suddenly I heard Lynn, our expedition leader say they saw a peregrine falcon, a visitor bird that comes to the islands from time to time, and also considered the fastest bird in wind; last time I personally saw it was 7 years ago. Finally, after a strenuous walk, some of adventurous travelers went into the water to cool off from the nice beach located at the foot of this tuff volcano.
At 3:30p.m. we jumped into the water to snorkel around Kicker Rock, a very old eroded tuff cone in the middle of the ocean a few miles from San Cristobal. It is a great place to swim with turtles and many colorful fish. On our way there a guest commented, “All these days I wanted to see a shark and I couldn’t; I hope this is my chance.” Well, I did not say anything but there was a good probability we’d see more than one. Snorkeling ended and she said, yes, indeed! She saw many black-tip sharks, white-tip sharks, turtles, and a white spotted eagle ray. Later having some drinks and some snacks we circumnavigate Kicker Rock. Birds such as boobies, pelicans, terns, frigates, and sea gulls were the great finale for a great trip of seven days around the enchanted islands; surely many unique memories will be in our hearts and minds forever.
