Bartolomé & Rabida
This morning we landed at Bartolomé Island before breakfast, to see what was there. There were almost no plants, and we saw only a couple of lizards during the whole walk. Ah, there was also a fly. This was an exciting beginning for our week in Galapagos! This place always rates top in the choices of favorite islands though. Why? Because of it’s geological beauty. It easily takes over everyone’s mind and sends them back in time, reminding the visitors about how these islands emerged in the middle of nowhere!
Only endemic and primitive plants adapted to unique sterile environments and succeed here. This is a fact we all witnessed since we landed at a place where nothing will survive; just a few dying-living plants among the grey terrain and the lizard I mentioned before.
It was hot already at six in the morning, and that was because two nights ago there was an intense rain. We were happy to hike the 365 steps all the way up to see the great lookout. By 8:15 we came back to have a restoring breakfast, and at 10:15 we were ready to visit the beach for the rest of the morning. The water was 81 F, so that prepared us for a great snorkel.
After lunch some of us rested on the outside decks, looking for wildlife like boobies fishing and stingrays jumping. By the time we arrived at Rábida the sun had downed a bit and we started another session of snorkeling, this time with turtles and sea lions. We explored the coast in search of more fun.
Around 5:00 p.m. we disembarked for a short walk along the beach and to enjoy the beauty of a Galapagos sunset. That was a great way to start our visit to Paradise.
