Today we arrived to the southern realm of Galapagos, and San Cristobal Island was the island that we explored today. We started our day with an invigorating hike along an old creek on Punta Pitt. This island is one of the oldest in Galapagos, therefore it is more eroded and has spectacular views to show. Punta Pitt is also the eastern most point in the archipelago, and the home of several colonies of sea birds. This morning we looked for swallow tailed gulls, Nazca boobies, and the very colorful red footed booby. As we hiked to the cliffs of Punta Pit, we found some of these boobies that were beginning to nest, while some juveniles flew over our heads. This place has a very dramatic landscape, with high brown hills and bright red sesuvium growing at the bottom of these hills. This species of plant turns red in response to the lack of rain water.
After this walk, we returned to the shore for a refreshing swim from the green sandy beach, not too far from some juvenile Galapagos sea lions that were sunbathing and sleeping.
After a great time on the beach, we returned aboard and headed south to get to Leon Dormido Islet, where we snorkeled from our Zodiacs in deep waters. Some of our guests encountered Galapagos sea lions, green sea turtles, and some even found a couple of Galapagos sharks in the area. After this outing we got back on board and navigated with the ship along the coast of Leon Dormido, where we observed Nazca boobies, great and magnificent frigatebirds. We celebrated our last day in Galapagos with a very colorful sunset over the magnificent, volcanic landscape.
