The central part of the archipelago was where our expedition took place today. The National Geographic Islander dropped anchor near Sombrero Chino Island in the morning and at Sullivan Bay in the afternoon.
The day was full of emotions due to the very volcanic landscapes we saw in both places, along with a mix of wild life. Galapagos penguins, striated herons, shearwaters, brown noddies, brown pelicans, blue footed boobies and hawks were some of the bird species we got to see during the day. Deep water snorkeling along a lava field made our morning visit very unique, especially because this place was ideal to find big schools of fish and sharks among other things.
In the afternoon after a great lunch and a very informative lecture about Charles Darwin, we followed in his footsteps. We visited Santiago Island, which is where Darwin spent most of his time when he came back to the Galápagos in 1835.
Sullivan Bay, a desolated place formed by a very recent lava flow approximately one hundred years old, became our National Park visiting site. The geology was simply remarkable; it would take a whole textbook on this subject to cover what we were seeing. All of us had an amazing time exploring the different features on the surface of the lava field. Some guests described the walk as a trip to the Moon and Mars in only two hours!
Our visit ended with a beautiful sunset. It was a little sad to know tomorrow will be our last full day in this wonderful paradise.
