Dragon Hill & Chinese Hat

The sun was shining as we headed to the shore on the north side of Santa Cruz Island. Cacti trees, lush forest and the songs of the finches gave us a warm welcome to explore Dragon Hill.

The highlight of this place is the colony of land iguanas that today thrives due to the conservation efforts of the Galápagos National Park that during the last ten years has removed alien species from the place such as: feral dogs, pigs, donkeys and goats whose harmful effects were reflected on the low numbers of this emblematic reptiles.

After a long enjoyable walk it was time to explore and enjoy a different site, this time we headed to the snorkeling site around Guy Fawkes Islets. Calm warm waters were the ideal conditions for a great expedition. This site is teeming with marine life such as reef fish sea turtles and sea lions.

In the afternoon we repositioned the National Geographic Polaris off Sombrero Chino for another expedition with many activities including snorkeling, kayaking, Zodiac ride, etc.

Snorkeling in this part of the Galápagos can be stunning; this nutrient rich water is home to myriads of organisms that entirely depend on the ocean for their survival. It was a true once in a life time experience; we found many white tipped reef sharks, rays, penguins and thousands of small and large reef fish.

It was truly unbelievable and I can’t wait to see more!