San Cristobal Island
San Cristobal, known as Chatham, was the first island that Charles Darwin visited. Its town, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, is the official capital of the Galápagos Archipelago.
After a Zodiac ride along the cliff of this impressive old tuff cone, where we were able to spot some frigate birds and red footed boobies nesting on the cliff sides, we landed at the golden coloured beach of Punta Pitt.
A young sea lion pup was looking after its mother while a very noisy male was patrolling the water, courting a couple of females. After watching them we hiked to the plateau, following a dry stream bed to the top of this volcanic formation. We reached the summit where we could see the beach below us and a colourful mosaic landscape patched with red Sesuvium and the green Nolana Galapagensis, both succulent plants.
Along the cliff, we were able to see more red footed boobies, some juveniles and few young babies, along with adults that were sharing their nesting sites with frigate birds and blue footed boobies.
After this wonderful last hike we went back on board and during lunchtime, we sailed towards the scenic offshore islet Kicker Rock, or Leon Dormido, located near the western coast of San Cristobal Island. We had our last deep water snorkelling outing here, which was a very good one. Despite the low visibility we were able to see many medium and small sized Galápagos sharks, sea turtles, fish and even few rays.
Once we were all back on board, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with drinks on deck while circumnavigating this unique formation under the sunset. We then continued our journey to reach Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the beautiful little town full of the Galápagos lifestyle and memories to take back home.
