Today was the last day of our expedition in the famous Galapagos Archipelago. Our guests have navigated around several island located in the center, west, and north, and now it was time to travel east. The last island that we would visit this week, the cherry on top of the cake, was San Cristobal.
In the morning we landed at a place called Punta Pitt. A long time ago, explosive eruptions resulted in large amounts of ash that later settled and formed a tuff cone. Over time this cone has been shaped by the rains that come every year, forming the trail that we now use to hike Punta Pitt. As we climbed up the trail, the scenery amazed everyone, with the layers of compacted ash and the ocean in the background. The most exciting feature of this site is the presence of the rare red-footed boobies—the only species of booby that our guests had not yet encountered during this expedition. We also found blue-footed boobies nesting right next to other species of seabirds. After a great hike, we went back to the beach for some relaxation time. Some of our guests took the opportunity to go snorkeling from the beach, and were rewarded with sightings of baby sea lions, who stole the show with their playful spirit.
During lunch, the National Geographic Endeavour moved to another destination known as Cerro Brujo. This place is one of the few where Darwin landed during his time in the Galapagos, and we had the privilege of visiting this same area that he observed all those years ago. As this was our final outing, we relaxed on the white-sand beach, surrounded by resting sea lions.
As the day came to a close, we approached the iconic islet of San Cristobal, known as Kicker Rock. We circumnavigated the islet, taking photos of the impressive structure bathed in the late afternoon sunlight. As the sun set, so did the story of this group of families who came to this magical place Galapagos for excitement, joy, adventures and fun.
Until next time…
