After the stop in Santa Cruz Island, the National Geographic Islander set a southeast course to the island of San Cristobal, one of the oldest islands in the archipelago. Our destination is the most northerly visitor site of the island known as Punta Pitt, a refuge of different sea birds species and also a known bachelor sea lion colony. Today after breakfast we organized a short Zodiac ride along the coast near the landing site and later disembarked on the green sandy beach where sea lions, as usual, where expecting us. We followed a trail along a canyon that took us to higher ground. The view was the first attraction, but we continued along the path towards the area where we would find what we were looking for: the red footed booby. Far from the canyon that brought us here, there is a cliff where this small booby species nests and we were lucky enough to see a couple of them. Then, the real madness happened the moment a chatham mockingbird came close to jumping over the head of two of our explorers, trying to investigate and discover something unexpected. After the walk we spent part of the morning swimming and enjoying the company of two young sea lions that were fun and playful on the coast. After the fun on the beach we headed back on board.
For the afternoon the adventure and expedition was totally different. We moved the ship south along the western coast of the island of San Cristobal looking for a rock standing in the middle of the ocean, a visitor site called Leon Dormido. This site is a compact ash cone highly eroded by time and many other erosion factors. There is a channel where the snorkeling is incredible, so soon after we got there we boarded the Zodiacs to this great destination. Once everybody hit the water the comments were just not enough to describe the great time we are all having in this very special place. Seeing sharks and turtles among an incredible list of tropical and reef fish was the perfect way to let loose and enjoy this incredible experience.
It was one more great week in the islands. I hear often that the week was too short, but I think it was a great week and that is why the time flies. It’s a good excuse to start thinking about the next adventure with us!
