Santiago Island
We started early in the morning with an incredible hike along Espumilla Beach—an important Pacific green sea turtle (Chelonia midas) nesting beach. We passed a thick mangrove forest, a shallow lagoon full of fiddler crabs, and had a peculiar view from the top of a small hill over the bay. All along the trail we observed “Palo santo” trees (Bursera graveolins) and a number of bushes that had grown over the rainy season.
Breakfast on board the National Geographic Islander is always a party! While we were eating the ship was repositioned in Buccaneer Cove. This place was once upon a time a favorite site for pirates and privateers thus the peculiar name. These early visitors found not only a calm anchorage but also plenty of provisions for their raids, giant tortoises and fresh filthy water, together with firewood. Those years of violent unlawful behavior are long gone; nowadays Santiago Island is under the protection and management of the Galápagos National Park Service, instead. Besides, Santiago is the adopted island of Lindblad Expeditions, where we’ve developed a program to eradicate feral pigs and goats. We succeeded.
After breakfast we decided not to swim its coast, as a tide of jellies had arrived before us, and were eaten by turtles and fish. Instead, we had an educational Zodiac ride along the incredible shores. Kayaking was the other option today, so everybody got some exercise. Upon returning to the ship, we enjoyed a lecture on Charles Darwin, the most famous visitor of Santiago Island. There were many questions about his life and ideas.
After lunch we disembarked in Puerto Egas. We had a long and rewarding hike along the coastline. Some preferred to swim at the black beach and then hike. The walk followed a trail made of tuff rock, in a mélange with basalt lava and organic sands. We saw many shore birds, and Galápagos fur sea lions, together with Sally Lightfoot crabs, Lava herons, American oystercatchers, brown pelicans, and Galápagos sea lions. The afternoon was fantastic as we enjoyed another day in Paradise…
