Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino
In the morning, we walked through the arid vegetation zone of Santa Cruz Island where we found the “dragons of the Galápagos”: the land iguanas. Alongside were some interesting coastal sea birds such as stilts, white cheeked pintails, sand pipers and plovers. Later we were ready to go snorkeling on a beautiful sunny day along the coast of one of the Guy Fawkes islets, where we discovered great underwater marine life. We navigated along a rocky wall studded with different colors and invertebrates; once again, the Galápagos marine life is magical. The diversity of marine species that have made these waters their home is amazing. The water temperature in the archipelago is dropping down this time of year. In this location we had 77° F, which is actually a very good temperature for the Galápagos.
We found colorful fish, sponges, coral, sea lions, sea turtles and more. Every one of us had a good time exploring this wonderful place.
The afternoon found us at a new site, Sombrero Chino. What a surprise to spot from the sky deck, a few flamingos inside one of the Bainbridge islets. They inhabit a salt water lake in one of these tuff cones south of Santiago Island. We offered different water activities for the afternoon. Snorkeling was outstanding, with sharks, rays and even penguins.
Kayakers enjoyed the waters in between Santiago Island and Sombrero Chino, and just before sunset we offered a Zodiac ride so people could take pictures of this wonderful scenery: candelabra cactus on black fields of lava, penguins, herons, and Sally Lightfoot crabs. It was a magical day.
