Dragon Hill & Chinese Hat
This morning we explored the northwestern region of Santa Cruz Island, on to a famous place known as Dragon Hill. This site is names so because of the resemblance of Galápagos land iguanas to mythical dragons.
On this place there used to be feral dogs killing land iguanas, thanks to the quick response of the National Parks Service, the dogs were removed from there and the program to restore land iguanas began. This morning we found several male and female land iguanas along the trail, this shows how the proper decisions can make a big difference between loosing an extraordinary animal found nowhere else but in Galápagos or saving it for future generations to observe it the way we do today.
After our walk we went snorkeling along the colorful wall of Guy Fawkes islet where soft types of corals, red sponges, sea stars of different colors delighted our eyes. There were also playful Galápagos sea lions that followed us and large schools of black stripped salemas were observed all around.
For the afternoon we had all kinds of activities around Chinese Hat islet, we kayaked, and also snorkeled with sharks, rays, sea lions. We also went on to the beach and marveled by the red color of the rusty lava, the pure white color of the sand, and the intense turquoise color of the waters around this amazing place. To end our day we went exploring the coastline with our Zodiacs and found Galápagos penguins, sea lions, pelicans and herons along the dramatic coast of Santiago Island. Once on board we had dinner on the teak deck, what an amazing way to finish our day.
This morning we explored the northwestern region of Santa Cruz Island, on to a famous place known as Dragon Hill. This site is names so because of the resemblance of Galápagos land iguanas to mythical dragons.
On this place there used to be feral dogs killing land iguanas, thanks to the quick response of the National Parks Service, the dogs were removed from there and the program to restore land iguanas began. This morning we found several male and female land iguanas along the trail, this shows how the proper decisions can make a big difference between loosing an extraordinary animal found nowhere else but in Galápagos or saving it for future generations to observe it the way we do today.
After our walk we went snorkeling along the colorful wall of Guy Fawkes islet where soft types of corals, red sponges, sea stars of different colors delighted our eyes. There were also playful Galápagos sea lions that followed us and large schools of black stripped salemas were observed all around.
For the afternoon we had all kinds of activities around Chinese Hat islet, we kayaked, and also snorkeled with sharks, rays, sea lions. We also went on to the beach and marveled by the red color of the rusty lava, the pure white color of the sand, and the intense turquoise color of the waters around this amazing place. To end our day we went exploring the coastline with our Zodiacs and found Galápagos penguins, sea lions, pelicans and herons along the dramatic coast of Santiago Island. Once on board we had dinner on the teak deck, what an amazing way to finish our day.
