South Plazas and Santa Fe Islands
It was a unique and impressive day full of unforgettable moments! South Plaza is a small island off the east coast of Santa Cruz Island that was formed by lava streaming up from the bottom of the ocean. The area is about of 0.13 km2 and a maximum altitude of 23 meters. Despite its small size this marvelous island is home to a large number of species and a bizarre flora. Because of its unique volcanic formation it is possible to see a great number of birds such as red-billed tropicbirds, Galápagos shearwaters, and swallow-tailed gulls but most of all, the beautiful view from the top of steep cliffs is an extremely pleasurable experience. The attractiveness of this island is its prickly pear cactus forest and a large colony of Galápagos land iguanas. In addition, the low grow vegetation such as sesuvium and portulaca, which changes its color from green in the rainy season to orange and red in the dry season, was particularly impressive today. The morning outing ended with a refreshing swim from the ship where the very active guests dove from the lower deck.
The afternoon exploration gave us another taste of the wonders of the Galápagos Islands. Different alternative were offered to our explorers: snorkeling, hiking, kayaking. Santa Fe Island, also known as Barrington Island after Admiral Samuel Barrington, is a small island with 24 km² of area. This island lies in the center of the Galápagos archipelago. Geologically it is one of the oldest islands in the Galápagos with volcanic rocks that are about 4 million years old. The vegetation of the island is characterized by yellow cordia, croton, scalesia, incense trees, and one of the largest prickly pear cactus found in the Galápagos Islands, Opuntia echios barringtonensis. Along the path we found species endemic to Santa Fe Island such as Barrington land iguanas (Conolophus pallidus) and Santa Fe Rice Rats (Oryzomys bauri). This ancient island has a fantastic view; we encouraged our explorers to take a minute of silence and listening to Mother Nature speak to us through the bark of the sea lions, the sounds of the mockingbirds, and Darwin finches; the peaceful moment that we had at the highest point of Santa Fe took us to another dimension.
This magical day had a lot to offer; each activity was full of surprises and we were immersed in them. Curious newborn sea lions made us fall in love of Mother Nature one more time. The magic of the underwater realm was unique; sea turtles in their cleaning stations, a large school of black-striped salemas, whitetip reef sharks, and eagle rays made this day unforgettable.
