Today we woke up to a new view, a new landscape outside our window. Each island is different in the Galapagos archipelago, each island is magical and beautiful. Today we returned to the center of the archipelago to visit Lindblad Expeditions’ adopted island, Santiago Island, also known as James or San Salvador. As the sun was rising, we set foot on Espumilla beach, a beautiful red sand beach where Pacific green sea turtles nest and Galapagos top land predators hunt, particularly the Galapagos hawk. Galapagos hawks were the stars of the show this morning, as we spotted four of them perching together on branches of the white and red mangrove trees, looking at us curiously. The morning continued at Buccaneers’ Cove for a wonderful snorkeling, kayaking, and paddle-boarding session, and a ride on our glass bottom boat. In the afternoon, we explored Puerto Egas, another site at Santiago Island, inspecting tidal pools and spotting birds, marine iguanas and Galapagos fur seals. As we headed back to the boat during a beautiful and peaceful sunset, we reflected on the close encounters we had with the fearless Galapagos wildlife, and we understood the importance of conservation of pristine places like the Galapagos Islands!