It took more than six hours for us to arrive at the easternmost island in the Galápagos Archipelago. One of the oldest islands geologically, San Cristobal is our last destination to complete this wonderful week. Its official Ecuadorian name of "San Cristobal" comes from the patron saint of seafarers, St. Christopher.
During the morning outing some of us took a Zodiac ride while others wanted to explore the inland wonders of this ancient island. The tuff coastline of Punta Pitt offers a great variety of sea birds. Blue-footed boobies, red-footed boobies, and Nazca boobies were observed from the Zodiacs. Tropicbirds, shearwaters, swallow-tailed gulls, and storm petrels were also sighted by our guess around the small basaltic islets of Punta Pit. After the Zodiac ride and hike, our guests enjoyed for the last time the peaceful waters of the Pacific Ocean on one of the only green beaches in the world. While sea lions were playing in the small waves, marine iguanas occupied the beach for sun basking.
Small canyons took us to the summit of the mountain where we spotted a diversity of unique species endemic to this particular area. For instance, Chatham mockingbirds, San Cristobal lava lizards, and scalesia incisa were sighted. Further inland the path, which is made of volcanic ash due to weathering, led us to a stunning view of Punta Pitt’s coastline. Many red-footed boobies and Nazca boobies were pointed out on this unique walk.
The underwater realm ended a day full of exploration. Our last activity took place at Kicker Rock, better known as “Leon Dormido.” As expected, the magical underwater kingdom gave us a unique experience during our last snorkeling of the week. As soon as we jumped into the water we spotted sea turtles and different kind of fish that were foraging on algae and then suddenly in the rocky channel a few hammerhead sharks, black-tipped reef sharks, and Galapagos sharks showed up.
To end this amazing and unforgettable day we circumnavigate Kicker Rock. We all gathered on deck to share and describe the wonder of the Galapagos Islands.
