The morning found us near the fourth largest of the Galápagos Islands, Santiago (also known as James and San Salvador), which is anchored close to Sombrero Chino and the Bainbridge Islets. These small, interesting volcanoes were probably formed when the sea level was lower, as parasitic cones of Santiago Island. We spent our morning exploring the area with Zodiac rides, in search of Galápagos sea lions, sea turtles, and shore birds. Then our guests had two options: to explore the underwater world by deep-water snorkeling along the channel, or visit a small white coral sand beach and follow a short trail along the shoreline of Sombrero Chino. The landscape here is born of fire, is one of the best examples of the stunning volcanic origin of the islands.
Soon after returning to the ship and just before lunch, our expedition leader, Jason, invited all of the guests to the sun deck, to have a better view of a brackish lagoon inside one nearby tuff cones, where flamingos are usually found. Then, we continued sailing east around the coast of Santiago, to our next visitor site in view of the famous Pinnacle Rock, an area on the main island of Santiago known as Sullivan Bay. This area was named after James Sullivan, 2nd Lieutenant on board the H.M.S. Beagle when she arrived with Charles Darwin in 1835.
Our afternoon walk was an unforgettable one, taking us over a remarkable lava flow that is little more than a hundred years old, which was witnessed being formed in 1897. We walked over smooth “pahoehoe,” or ropy lava and sharp, broken “aa” lava. Volcanic formations like cinder cones, spatter cones, hornitos, Pele’s hair, and tree casts support pioneer forms of life, such as lichens, mollugo plants, and lava cactus, with few insects, lava lizard, and painted locust to show how slowly the colonization process happened in these volcanic islands.
During the walk, our guests learned about the successful project to eliminate feral goats and pigs from the island. In 1997, Lindblad Expeditions “adopted” Santiago Island and created a special fund (now the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund for Galápagos).
Today, the goats and pigs are completely gone, thanks to caring travelers that play an important role in saving special places on this earth, such a Galapagos. Our guests this week, for sure, will be also part of this non-ending effort to protect this unique archipelago and UNESCO heritage Site.
