What a wonderful day we had today.
Early in the morning we woke up navigating toward the oldest island in the archipelago, San Cristobal Island.
Soon after breakfast we started our Zodiac ride followed by a wet landing on a green olivine beach sparkling with crystals and, of course, our ever-present friends the sea lions as a welcome committee.
Today our walk took us partially on a trail heavily eroded by rain, a dry river-bed and then up to a scenic point where we could see the peninsula called Punta Pitt. We searched for our last of the three species of boobies, the red-footed booby.
Plant and eroded tuff (volcanic-ash) were our companions for about a mile and a half. Red-footed boobies are pelagic and nest here - we are located at the southeast point of the archipelago where many species arrive for the first time. There is high endemism here, like our San Cristobal lava lizards, mockingbirds and much more wildlife. Deeper into their nesting site we finally saw them right under us by the cliff: a chick, juvenile and a nesting adult all staged in a single spot.
Back to the beach some opted to swim among the sea lions while other just wanted to lie down on the beach. Our expedition continued on while we navigated to our next site while lunching and sure enough tropical whales appeared around us! What a treat!
Our water activities were held around an impressive tuff cone, and today was shark day. Our snorkel took our adventurous guests among Galápagos sharks and many other sea lives on this realm. After we all came back we circumnavigated Kicker Rock as the sun set, and we said goodbye to our last full day in the Galápagos.
Our expedition has come to an end and we are now ambassadors for a place which cannot be described by any. We are bounded by this place, this feeling which will be in our hearts for a lifetime.