Today we started our day on the western side of Santiago Island. After an early wake-up call, we landed at Espumilla Beach. A place covered with an interesting mix of volcanic ashes and tiny pieces of olivine where we spotted tracks made by sea turtle and holes made by ghost crabs. We actually were lucky to spot a female sea turtle basking in the sand. After crossing a button mangrove forest we continued through an area covered by huge Palo Santos trees, where some Galápagos hawks were spotted. The soil was wet giving off a very enjoyable smell mixed with the smell from the ancient incense tree forest. A couple of mockingbirds and several species of Darwin finches were spotted, then we went back to beach and back to National Geographic Islander—it was a great experience.
During the rest of the morning we explored Buccaneer Cove. Here we had a number of activities such as kayaking along the shoreline of the impressive landscape and snorkeling with the underwater wonders of Galápagos. While snorkeling we spotted some eagle rays, king angelfish, Moorish idols, parrotfish, snappers, grunts, Galápagos sea lions, white-tipped reef sharks, and many others species of reef fish. The water visibility was pretty good and water temperature very comfortable and more than inviting for us to spend nearly an hour enjoying the blue heart of the planet!
After lunch, we landed on the black volcanic sandy beach and had chance to walk along the coast where we found some interesting lava formations known as grottos. The intertidal ecosystem was more than fascinating, full of offspring of different marine organisms and in some other areas the endemic fur seals and sea lions were lying on them. Along the coast we also spotted different species of shore birds including the semi palmate plover, sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, lots of marine iguanas, American oystercatchers, and much more. After a breathtaking experience where the geology and biology of the placed taught us well, we returned to National Geographic Islander to continue our expedition around the islands born of fire!
