Santa Cruz Island
We continued our expedition visiting the northwestern corner of Santa Cruz Island. Venice islets, our destination in the morning, are a paradisiacal group of volcanic islets surrounded by mangroves. This beautiful location was at is most today for the tide was extremely low allowing us to deeply explore the surroundings. Some guests opted to take a Zodiac ride along the many small passages and little lagoons in the area. We observed a big array of different creatures. Many colorful crabs eating the algae from the rocks, various species of fish, blue footed boobies plunge diving, brown pelicans either fishing or just resting on the trees, herons, sea turtles, sea lions, rays and sharks. Some other guests decided to board kayaks in this peaceful area and had a blast of a time for they could not stop praising their experience of being in intimate contact with nature. Later in the morning we snorkeled in Guy Fawkes Islets. In this place there is a beautiful underwater wall where we observed many fish and many kinds of invertebrates. The always playing and cheerful sea lions were around as well. The rapid and acrobatic movements were a true delight to observe.
During the afternoon we hiked Cerro Dragon. A beautiful shallow lagoon, located some feet away from the landing spot, serves as temporary home for several bird species. One of them is the greater flamingo. The stunning coloration of the bird contrasted in a magical way with the dry forest that is characteristic of this place. We observed some large male land iguanas and the majestic prickly pear cacti as well. We came back on board eager to share our experiences with our fellow travelers. A spectacular sunset marked the end of our expedition.
We continued our expedition visiting the northwestern corner of Santa Cruz Island. Venice islets, our destination in the morning, are a paradisiacal group of volcanic islets surrounded by mangroves. This beautiful location was at is most today for the tide was extremely low allowing us to deeply explore the surroundings. Some guests opted to take a Zodiac ride along the many small passages and little lagoons in the area. We observed a big array of different creatures. Many colorful crabs eating the algae from the rocks, various species of fish, blue footed boobies plunge diving, brown pelicans either fishing or just resting on the trees, herons, sea turtles, sea lions, rays and sharks. Some other guests decided to board kayaks in this peaceful area and had a blast of a time for they could not stop praising their experience of being in intimate contact with nature. Later in the morning we snorkeled in Guy Fawkes Islets. In this place there is a beautiful underwater wall where we observed many fish and many kinds of invertebrates. The always playing and cheerful sea lions were around as well. The rapid and acrobatic movements were a true delight to observe.
During the afternoon we hiked Cerro Dragon. A beautiful shallow lagoon, located some feet away from the landing spot, serves as temporary home for several bird species. One of them is the greater flamingo. The stunning coloration of the bird contrasted in a magical way with the dry forest that is characteristic of this place. We observed some large male land iguanas and the majestic prickly pear cacti as well. We came back on board eager to share our experiences with our fellow travelers. A spectacular sunset marked the end of our expedition.
