We navigated most of the night across calm seas to anchor at dawn off the central island of Santiago. Today we visit islands that are not as old or as isolated as some of the small islands to the east we just visited. Hence, they do not have island specific endemic species, but they have plenty of interesting flora and fauna and many of the species that are found only in Galapagos.
The highlight of our morning visit to Sombrero Chino, which as its name implies, does look like a stereotypical Chinese hat, was the snorkeling! The water was clear, the fish species numerous and colorful, and we even saw several white tipped reef sharks.
In the afternoon we took a lava hike and enjoyed all the variety of textures in a flow that dates from 1897! Whaling vessels in the area reported a huge eruption that went on for months.
