Our guests today flew from Guayaquil to San Cristobal Island and found an open blue and sunny sky to welcome them to the wonderful Archipelago of Galapagos. San Cristobal is the capital of the province of this group of islands, consisting of 125 to be exact. The town, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, which is close to the airport, has been and still is a traditional fishing town. The airport was opened here in 1987. The flux of tourism is concentrated out of the airport of Baltra (which was closed this month) and all embarkations visit the town of Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz where tourism is a lot more developed. Here, in Pto Baquerizo Moreno, one still gets the feeling to be in a "true" little town.
After settling in on board and having lunch, we went to visit the Interpretation Center to learn about the natural and human history of the islands. After some free time in this tiny town we lifted anchor to sail towards Leon Dormido (or sleeping lion), an amazing rock formation. This is a tuff cone, eroded partly away, leaving sheer cliff sides and a spectacular cleft. Looking at it from different angles the shape changes constantly. Some see a shoe in it, hence the name Kicker Rock, others -like me- see the paws and the head of a sleeping lion. We lowered down our Zodiacs to circumnavigate this magnificent rock and gazed in awe at the steep walls. The light was just perfect. Lots of frigate birds circled around high above the rock and both species, the magnificent and the great, even nest on the slopes. With binoculars we could distinguish their blown up red poaches. Other seabirds, including blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and noddy terns were seen, as well as some sea lions, turtles and mating spotted eagle rays!
What a promising start, we’re looking even more forward to the rest of our trip!
