Bartolome and Santiago Islands
Today’s visit has been full in terms of all kind of activities; the nature walks had a good number of sightings, especially when it came to endemic plants such as tiquilias, lava and prickly pears cactus, and mangroves by the shoreline. The displays of colors were astonishing! Landscapes were presenting a variety of shapes and colors that went from light turquoise-blue to dark, deep ocean blue in a variety of places at the beach. It was precisely here were we had one of our big highlights of the day.
While we were walking along the south beach of Bartolome, we saw a female sea turtle almost completely out of the water trying to avoid mating with the anxious males; we could have been happy with only that, but few minutes later a couple of turtles, who happened to be mating, came closer to where we were.
This time of the year is precisely when the pacific green sea turtles are mating and it is a process that takes between one to two and half hours. Five weeks later she is ready to lay the eggs and the beach that we are standing at, is one of the main nesting grounds for them.
The snorkeling was terrific! Water was crystal clear, giving us the chance to play with sea lions and to see the most northerly penguin in the world, the Galápagos penguin. It was interesting to hear the commentaries of people when returning to the beach and the different experiences that everyone had during this ever-popular water activity.
Today’s visit has been full in terms of all kind of activities; the nature walks had a good number of sightings, especially when it came to endemic plants such as tiquilias, lava and prickly pears cactus, and mangroves by the shoreline. The displays of colors were astonishing! Landscapes were presenting a variety of shapes and colors that went from light turquoise-blue to dark, deep ocean blue in a variety of places at the beach. It was precisely here were we had one of our big highlights of the day.
While we were walking along the south beach of Bartolome, we saw a female sea turtle almost completely out of the water trying to avoid mating with the anxious males; we could have been happy with only that, but few minutes later a couple of turtles, who happened to be mating, came closer to where we were.
This time of the year is precisely when the pacific green sea turtles are mating and it is a process that takes between one to two and half hours. Five weeks later she is ready to lay the eggs and the beach that we are standing at, is one of the main nesting grounds for them.
The snorkeling was terrific! Water was crystal clear, giving us the chance to play with sea lions and to see the most northerly penguin in the world, the Galápagos penguin. It was interesting to hear the commentaries of people when returning to the beach and the different experiences that everyone had during this ever-popular water activity.
