Santiago
The island where Charles Darwin spent most of his days ashore during his visit on the Beagle in 1835 was Santiago, which was then called James. It is one of the central islands of the Galápagos archipelago, and it is a very interesting one, not only because of the unique creatures that inhabit it but also because of its amazing landscapes and profuse human history. Santiago was once a favorite hideout place for buccaneers and privateers, and later whalers and fur sealers used to make a stop here in order to get water and tortoise meat. Nowadays, Santiago is part of the protected areas of the Galápagos National Park. This morning we set off to visit Espumilla beach, which is an important sea turtle nesting area. On one side of the beach, a flock of blue-footed boobies amazed us with their diving skills. The Espumilla trail cuts across some very old button mangroves trees, and then upwards to a crest of lava surrounded by some of the tallest incense trees of the archipelago. A couple of Galápagos hawks landed nearby, and all along the hike we were accompanied by various other land birds like the Galápagos dove and mockingbird, as well as various Darwin finches. A fine mist, locally known as “garua,” kept us cool during the walk and framed the landscape with a rainbow. By the time we left the beach, it was already covered by hundreds of orange-colored ghost crabs. After breakfast, our ship repositioned to nearby Buccaneer Cove, which we were to explore from our pangas. The area has been heavily eroded leaving an interesting wall, which makes the perfect habitat for several seabird species and some sea lions. The water conditions today were perfect for snorkeling; the sea temperature was a comfortable 77°F and the water was pretty clear. Our fearless snorkelers encountered several species of fish like the razor surgeonfish, pink cardinal fish, and striped salemas; a young Galápagos sea lion delighted some of us with its curiosity and playfulness, making this a very special experience.
Puerto Egas, not far from Buccaneer Cove, was our site in the afternoon. There used to be a small settlement here, but that is past history. Despite the intermittent human presence, the area is still full of wildlife. The coastal walk here is very attractive: there is a combination of basaltic lava flows and tuff rock, and the erosion from winds and waves has left some unique and bizarre patterns. A very abundant inhabitant of this coastal area is the endemic marine iguana…there were just so many of them! Juvenile land birds find a great source of insects in this intertidal zone, amongst which we found the yellow warbler and some Darwin finches. The migratory birds were also present, like the ruddy turnstones, whimbrels and semi-palmated plovers. At the grottos we found the creature that is the star of the area: the Galápagos fur seal. Unlike the Galápagos sea lion, this species is neither as curious nor interested in us, preferring to doze or ignore us while waiting for the night to fall and start hunting. The sun sets pretty quickly here in the Equator, and this busy day was coming to an end; it was time to leave this beautiful area as we had to make our way back to our home in Galápagos, the National Geographic Islander.
