We had a dry landing on a small, flat island riddled with baby sea lions around the coast and prickly pear cacti forest further inland. As we continued along our route, we came across several land iguanas feeding on the succulent plants and fallen cactus pears.
A small colony of swallow-tailed gulls has settled on this island, and we encountered several of them on nests and feeding their chicks. We saw several gull chicks which, at most, were no more than a few days old. The cliffs of this island had all sorts of birds flying around, from magnificent frigatebirds, to red-billed tropicbirds, to Galápagos shearwaters. Land iguanas were also along the trail, either already nesting or digging holes to incubate their eggs.
After an outstanding walk, we returned to National Geographic Islander and went for a swim, jumping off the ship into the refreshing waters. After lunch, we headed for Santa Fe Island, where a few options awaited us. A good number of us went kayaking inside a calm bay, where we spotted pacific green sea turtles, sea lions, blue-footed boobies and brown pelicans.
After kayaking, we had a wet landing to explore the wilderness on Santa Fe. We encountered several individuals of the endemic Santa Fe land iguana: This species is not only unique to the Galápagos but also unique to Santa Fe Island itself. Plenty of large (mature) prickly pears were found along the trails. Some of these cacti have been growing for more than 80 years! Galápagos doves, mocking birds, and several kinds of Darwin finches were also spotted on this island. Clearly the wildlife had a lot to show us today!
