Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino
Well here we are again, ready for another exciting day! It is eight o’clock and already on board the Zodiac we are heading to Dragon Hill. This place is located on the northwestern corner of Santa Cruz Island and is well known for the presence of land iguanas. These are much different from the marine iguanas that we’ve seen before, being more colorful, some bright yellow with a dark brown back. It is a dry landing, and with good shoes everyone is willing to walk for one and a half hour on an easy terrain in search of these land reptiles. But first we make a stop next to a brackish water lagoon and see the most remarkable of lagoon birds, the greater flamingos. There were three of them, and in Galápagos they are the pinkest flamingos from the five species we have in the world. They are some of the most ancient birds that have existed over the last fifty million years!! We saw also a black necked stilt, least sand piper, whimbrel and a white cheeked pintail.
After only twenty minutes we found our first land iguana a little far away, but the second and third were only six feet from the trail. It was a great view, this calm behavior probably the most remarkable characteristic of the fauna in Galápagos: the facility with which we can approach them without fear. This is a paradise for photographers.
After we finished our hike we came back on board to get ready for snorkeling at Guy Fawkes Islet. It was a refreshing experience; besides lots of fish and some sea lions, most impressive was an underwater cliff full of sea stars, sea urchins and red sponges. We got back on board in time for a great buffet lunch .
After one hour of sailing we arrived at Sombrero Chino (“Chinese Hat”), an impressive island due to its shape. Various options were offered to our guests: kayaking, snorkeling, boat rides, and beach time. It was a nice sunny afternoon.
Some excitement occurred at the very end of the day as sunset had many guests on the sky deck with drinks in hand. As we were waiting for the last group to return we received a call from the last Zodiac telling us that they had found a marine turtle that was partially strangled with a rope, attached at the same time to a plastic bottle. She was still alive but injured and covered with barnacles and small red crabs. We proceeded to cut the line and to remove the rest of it (some six feet of which had been swallowed). Fortunately there was no hook and we could release the poor turtle from the mess. We imagined the turtle was in pain and stressed, possibly asking herself if this was going to be the end of her life, but when we put her back in the water we wanted to imagine she felt liberation with a bit of gratitude. We all talked about this and enjoyed our first beautiful sunset of the week.
Well here we are again, ready for another exciting day! It is eight o’clock and already on board the Zodiac we are heading to Dragon Hill. This place is located on the northwestern corner of Santa Cruz Island and is well known for the presence of land iguanas. These are much different from the marine iguanas that we’ve seen before, being more colorful, some bright yellow with a dark brown back. It is a dry landing, and with good shoes everyone is willing to walk for one and a half hour on an easy terrain in search of these land reptiles. But first we make a stop next to a brackish water lagoon and see the most remarkable of lagoon birds, the greater flamingos. There were three of them, and in Galápagos they are the pinkest flamingos from the five species we have in the world. They are some of the most ancient birds that have existed over the last fifty million years!! We saw also a black necked stilt, least sand piper, whimbrel and a white cheeked pintail.
After only twenty minutes we found our first land iguana a little far away, but the second and third were only six feet from the trail. It was a great view, this calm behavior probably the most remarkable characteristic of the fauna in Galápagos: the facility with which we can approach them without fear. This is a paradise for photographers.
After we finished our hike we came back on board to get ready for snorkeling at Guy Fawkes Islet. It was a refreshing experience; besides lots of fish and some sea lions, most impressive was an underwater cliff full of sea stars, sea urchins and red sponges. We got back on board in time for a great buffet lunch .
After one hour of sailing we arrived at Sombrero Chino (“Chinese Hat”), an impressive island due to its shape. Various options were offered to our guests: kayaking, snorkeling, boat rides, and beach time. It was a nice sunny afternoon.
Some excitement occurred at the very end of the day as sunset had many guests on the sky deck with drinks in hand. As we were waiting for the last group to return we received a call from the last Zodiac telling us that they had found a marine turtle that was partially strangled with a rope, attached at the same time to a plastic bottle. She was still alive but injured and covered with barnacles and small red crabs. We proceeded to cut the line and to remove the rest of it (some six feet of which had been swallowed). Fortunately there was no hook and we could release the poor turtle from the mess. We imagined the turtle was in pain and stressed, possibly asking herself if this was going to be the end of her life, but when we put her back in the water we wanted to imagine she felt liberation with a bit of gratitude. We all talked about this and enjoyed our first beautiful sunset of the week.
