Sombrero Chino and Santiago
When we awoke we found ourselves anchored in a lovely narrow, turquoise channel between the reddish island of Sombrero Chino—which did indeed have the shape of a Chinese hat—and a black rippled lava field that extended as far as the eye could see on the large island of Santiago. After breakfast we explored the fringes of the lava flow and the shore of Sombrero Chino and found striated herons, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and a couple penguins swimming fast in the water searching for their breakfast.
Back on board we donned our wetsuits and boarded the Zodiacs for snorkeling. The sun and clear water made for excellent visibility this morning and everyone who went snorkeling (and that was most of our guests!) had a superb experience. A huge manta ray, several fast moving penguins, many species of colorful fish, and a white-reef shark were some of the creatures that were seen and delighted the snorkelers.
I went to the beach with only Cindy and we had our own private entertainment; a young sea lion scooting along on the beach checking us out and a lone penguin that zipped by the beach chasing fish. Soon we were joined on the beach by some of the snorkelers and we swam and sun bathed. This warm sunny day and the slightly cool, crystalline turquoise waters made for the perfect combination; we were reluctant to return to the ship when it was time to go.
The Captain had our boson haul up the anchor, and we navigated past the Bainbridge Islands. From the sky deck we could see into a crater lake and we spied two flamingos feeding there. I spotted a large, odd gray shape in the water close to the island and realized it was a good size whale shark with its mouth fully extended as it fed on plankton!
Our afternoon visit to the lava flow at Sullivan Bay on Santiago began at 3:30 p.m. when, despite a strong breeze, we could still feel the heat rising from the huge sheets of black lava that had been heated all day by the tropical sun. But the light was perfect for artistic photos of the beautiful and varied lava surface. One cannot imagine all the textures and forms that we saw—some looking like folded curtains, others like a broken woven basket. Our hike on the barren lava flow was spectacular!
To top off what had been a magnificent day, on our Zodiac ride back to the ship we found penguins resting on the rocks behind the famous Bartolomé pinnacle. We’d seen the penguins in the water in the morning, but getting photos of them then had not been easy, so we were pleased to see them on shore in the cool of the later afternoon as they prepared to sleep. There is still one more seabird species that we wish to photograph in Galápagos and so tonight we head north to Genovesa, which is the home of over 200,000 red-footed boobies!
