Today we visited Santiago Island. Located in the central northwestern part of the archipelago, the island is surrounded by hot- and cold-water currents. This area is suitable for penguin colonies. Our first activity was kayaking along the channel created in between a volcanic formation known as Chinese Hat and the main Santiago Island. Here, we found the very famous blue-footed boobies, Sally Lightfoot crabs, herons, many sea lions, and even flamingos flying over our heads! In the second half of the morning, we explored the coastline with Zodiac tours and then snorkeled in the same area. This shallow water channel with a sandy bottom is a spectacular snorkeling site. We found endemic garden eels as well as stingrays, octopus, and many tropical fish.
In the afternoon, we visited another site on Santiago Island, a massive lava flow no older than 130 years called Sullivan Bay. We went to a very small white sand beach created next to this lava flow to enjoy another snorkeling outing. Later, we hiked across this beautiful lava field. We had the chance here to understand the formation of the islands and the processes that lead to the establishment of life. On this site, we also saw Galapagos penguins, one of the smallest penguin species in the world, sitting on the rocks after fishing.
