Sombrero Chino and Sullivan Bay, Santiago
This morning we awoke after a peaceful night’s navigation to find that the ship was anchored off an extensive and impressive barren lava field. We had a rusty red islet that lived up to its name “Sombrero Chino” or Chinese Hat off our starboard bow, and the black lava flows of Santiago Island behind us as far as the eye could see. Our first activity this morning—after a hearty breakfast of course—was a Zodiac ride along the seemingly barren shores of the islet and the island to see what we could find. We found lots!
There were noddy terns in flight and resting on the lava cliffs, a family of oystercatchers (male and female had bright red-orange beaks and the juvenile’s beak was dull), many marine iguanas that had just come from feeding in the sea, a group of four penguins we saw first swimming and then drying themselves on shore, a great blue heron, several striated herons, a pair of deep brown Galápagos hawks and most fun of all a young sea lion who was happily juggling a pufferfish.
We returned to the National Geographic Islander and suited up for snorkeling or free-time on a tiny white beach. The snorkelers had a wonderful excursion; the water was clear and there were many varieties of colorful fish to be seen. Some of us saw white-tipped reef sharks, fast moving penguins shot by while we swam, and there were marine iguanas and diamond sting rays. On the beach we were entertained by a curious triggerfish that practically came out of the water, and a couple sleepy sea lions who shared the charming little beach with us.
In the afternoon following lunch and siesta, some of the younger guests, and young at heart, used recycled paper beads that were made by local artisans from our old brochures to make necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. When the afternoon had begun to cool off, we disembarked on the incredible lava fields that we had been admiring all morning. At Sullivan the lava flowed out as pahoehoe, ropy lava, that is easy to hike on and lovely to look at and photograph. With our naturalists we followed the mile-long National Park trail in a loop across the amazingly varied lava. At the farthest point inland we hiked on scoria and cinders that were reddish in color and from a much older eruption. The black lava field spread out for mile from a low cone in 1897 and even though a hundred years have now passed, there is very little vegetation growing on it.
We were delighted with the beauty of this “lava hike” and continue to be impressed with the varied landscapes and experiences that we have shared this week. To top it all off we found six penguins on the lava rocks as we motored along the coast and back to the ship this afternoon. No wonder these islands are called “Las Islas Encantadas!”
