Our day began at Cerro Dragon, on the north-western coast of Santa Cruz Island, where we had a closer encounter with the endemic land iguanas. Considering that the population of land iguanas was strongly affected by humans in the last century, this was a great opportunity to witness the effects of a long-term conservation program led by the Galapagos National Park in coordination with the Charles Darwin Research Station. If we had visited this site back in the 1970s, we would have witnessed a combination of feral dogs, cats, donkeys and cattle. Nowadays, feral dogs and cattle have been eliminated, which allowed the Galapagos National Park Service to reintroduce a group of land iguanas, who have now successfully repopulated the area. Today we learned about the constant challenges of controlling invasive species, and how local and international experts are constantly improving their techniques for such a monumental task. This visit also gave us the chance to explore a wonderful beach of white sand, where various shore birds were spotted, including sandpipers, American oystercatchers and sanderlings.
After such a great start to the day, it was time for a deep water snorkeling outing at Guy Fawkes Island. This cluster of five tiny islets takes its name from a famous English conspirator, who attempted to blow up the House of Lords in the early 1600s. We swam among colorful fish such as parrot fish, damselfish and triggers. Among marine invertebrates, we identified some species of coral such as the orange cup coral, as well as several species of sea stars. Another option for our guests was the chance to enjoy a pristine white sandy beach, with option for snorkeling from the beach as well. Some of the beach explorers discovered that the abundance of marine organisms in the intertidal zone. We were happy to find a great density of orange tipped hermit crabs which were feeding on the intertidal pools close to the beach, as well as a jeweled moray eel.
Once we were all back onboard for lunch, our dedicated team of professional chefs shared with us a wonderful selection of Ecuadorian dishes. Later on, we moved south to a scenic area of the east coast of Santa Cruz known as El Eden, where some of our younger explorers had the opportunity to take Zodiac-driving lessons. This activity was facilitated by our team of experienced Zodiac drivers, who enjoyed not only sharing their knowledge of marine navigation but also teaching some basic Spanish vocabulary. Other groups of visitors enjoyed the scenic beauty of this area in kayaks, while some others explored these coasts accompanied by a naturalist in a Zodiac ride. Blue-footed boobies, striated herons, magnificent frigatebirds, black-tipped reef sharks and sea turtles were spotted during our outings.
Afterwards, we came back onboard to share a very special moment with a couple of guests, who kindly invited us to join them as for a wedding vows exchange ceremony at the bow of our ship—it was a very inspiring moment which we all enjoyed. Afterwards, we circumnavigated Daphne Major Islet, a famous spot that was selected by Peter and Rosemary Grant from Princeton University as a long term research site, due to its perfect ecological and logistical conditions. Their research on finches has been acknowledged as one of the most important long term studies to assist in strengthening the understanding of Darwinian theory of evolution. At this point, we are all sharing the feeling of enchantment that this marvelous archipelago provides, with an increased excitement about what is waiting for us in the next days of our expedition.
