Santa Cruz Island and Daphne Major, 9/18/2024, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
This morning, National Geographic Endeavour II anchored at the northwestern coast of Santa Cruz Island. During the morning, our guests explored a Galapagos dry forest in search of Palo Santo trees, giant Galapagos prickly pear cactus, and Galapagos land iguanas.
In the afternoon, we explored Borrero Bay, which is a mangrove ecosystem where some of the guests kayaked, and others went on Zodiac rides.
Salvador Cazar studied biology at the Universidad Nacional Del Sur, Bahía Blanca, in Argentina and at the Catholic University of Ecuador. Between 1988 and 1994, Salvador worked as a naturalist and tour leader for several national and international to...
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The first full day of expedition on the oldest island of the archipelago was an amazing surprise box. After a safety briefing, we received our snorkel gear and some of us headed to Tortuga Islet in Gardner Bay for our first “deep-water snorkel.” Others practiced in shallower waters at the beyond-description beach with white sand and a turquoise bay. After this first encounter with the marine world, we returned to National Geographic Endeavour II for a quick change and then a Zodiac ride to the beach to stroll, swim, and observe the graceful sea lions in their natural habitat. We took this opportunity for photos, while they were peacefully laying on the beach. By midday we moved from the eastern side of Española Island to the western side for a visit to Punta Suarez. This is the only site at the Equator where waved albatrosses breed, and we witnessed the first ones arriving. We observed female marine iguanas fighting for a burrow, the blowhole, as well as the Española mockingbird and lava lizard. What a unique visit we had, and we’re looking forward to more!
Today was our last full day in Galapagos and we explored two visitor sites, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. First we climbed to the top of a parasitic cone; it’s a small volcano which is part of a larger volcano, and there are hundreds of them all over the archipelago. This visitor site was ideal to observe the three species of boobies in Galapagos — blue-footed, Nazca, and red-footed — among other species of seabirds. During our hike we had the opportunity to see two more endemic animal species of Galapagos, the San Cristobal mockingbird and the San Cristobal lava lizard, and many endemic plants as well. For the afternoon we visited a white coralline beach with Galapagos sea lions and turquoise water. What an amazing place to end our expedition in Galapagos.
Santa Cruz Island is the largest inhabited island in the archipelago and perhaps the most diverse. The contrast between nature and culture makes it a very interesting and fascinating place. In the morning, we visited the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center and observed the young tortoises that will later be repatriated to their island of origin. As we walked into town, we encountered sea lions intermingling with humans, then we had a great lunch at the Bahia Mar restaurant along the waterfront. We spent the afternoon in the highlands where we visited a local family-run sugarcane plantation. We had the opportunity to taste some of their products such as sugarcane honey, molasses, taffy, and moonshine. This was a very rich experience where our guests learned how people live in the Galapagos and shared a little bit of their daily lives. We finished this interesting day by visiting giant tortoises in their natural habitat as well as a few birds, including mockingbirds, pintail ducks, moorhens, and finches.
