San Cristóbal is the southernmost island of the Galapagos. It has an area of 558 square kilometers (215 square miles) and its highest point rises to 730 meters (2,400 feet). Our morning outing took place at Punta Pitt. A short Zodiac ride along the bizarre volcanic landscape delighted us before we landed in one of the few green sand beaches found in the Galapagos.
On the beach we were welcomed by marine iguanas basking in the equatorial sunshine. The beach was also packed with sea lions and pups playing in the surf. Eager hikers took a path made by erosion during the rainy season to reach the red-footed booby colony on the northwestern side on San Cristobal. The long walk was worth it. The scenery was colorful due to the changing leaves of the sesuvium, which made for a beautiful nesting area for red-footed boobies as well as Nazca boobies. Back on the olivine beach, we snorkeled and swam, finding ourselves surrounded by playful juvenile Galapagos sea lions and blue-footed boobies fishing close to shore.
In the afternoon, we snorkeled near Kicker Rock, also known as Leon Dormido. As expected, the enchanted underwater kingdom gave us a unique experience in our last snorkeling session of the week. Eagle rays, Indo-Pacific bonitos, sea turtles, black-tipped sharks and Galapagos sharks made this last outing hard to forget.
To end the day, our captain circumnavigated Leon Dormido while we all gathered on the teak deck to share our memories of the Galapagos Islands.
