Bartolome & Santiago Islands
Today was another filled day getting to view the beautiful views and wildlife in the Galapagos. We started the day on the Island of Bartolome, one of the most photographed places in the Galapagos. Twelve in our group elected for the tender tour of Santiago while Mark was the one brave sole to climb the 350 plus steps to the top of Bartolome. He made it all of the way.
Our tender ride took us around an area of lava caves where Galapagos penguins nest. Unfortunately we didn’t see any penguins on this excursion. In the morning they generally are in the water fishing for sardines.
Pinnacle Rock is one of the iconic land masses on Bartolome Island. It s part of a now largely eroded volcanic dike that once connected two islands. It is one of the most unusual land masses I’ve ever seen.
A number of Galapagos penguins nest around the Pinnacle Rock. These penguins ,migrated from Antarctica and have adapted to the environment in the Galapagos. They feed on sardines which are unfortunately being over-fished so the population of penguins is at risk of extinction. While we didn’t see penguins, we did see a number of birds nestled in the lava formations. Many Blue-footed Boobies sit on the cliffs as do some pelicans.
We also saw a few oyster catchers on a beach where turtles lay their eggs. Our guide/naturalist, Veronica told us that since there are no oysters in the Galapagos, the oyster catchers have adapted to hunting for turtle eggs as their source of food.
Everyone was a but disappointed that we didn’t see any penguins but you just never know what you will get to see in place as natural and as pristine as the Galapagos. You never know what will show up.
Our tender returned to the ship and those of us who elected to once again to snorkel in the chilly waters that are refreshed by the cold water of the Humboldt Current had just enough time to pick up our snorkeling gear and head back to the tenders for one last deep water snorkel.
The area where we snorkeled had many different varieties of fish. A few of our group, myself included swam a little farther than the rest of the group where we had a reef shark swim underneath us.
The rest of the group found a playful seal that swam around everyone. Since the group was separated, one of the free tenders followed the three of us as we continued down the shoreline.
Everyone experienced annoying masses of tiny jellyfish that stung but most of the stings were gone ion a few minutes. If it were not for the jellyfish I would have been happy to stay in the water for much longer.
Once everyone was back on our tender we started back to the ship along on shoreline and someone spotted a penguin sitting on a rock. Our tender driver was able to get the tender close enough so we could get a closeup view and take a few photos. Everyone on the tender was thrilled to see the penguin.
While the water felt much warmer that the previous 2 days it felt great to get the hot chocolate with Amarula waiting for us on board, The hot shower before lunch felt amazing too..
For the afternoon excursion everyone but 2 in our group elected for another tender ride along the coast of Santiago Island which is a very short distance from Bartolome Island. The 2 who didn’t join us elected for for the excursion that took them on a walk on dried lava. The both thoroughly enjoyed the walk. Most everyone else had been on the lava in the past and were happy to do something a little less strenuous, especially those of us who had done the snorkeling.
Our naturalist/guide for this excursion was Veronica who had been the guide on a number of our other excursions. She was extremely knowledgable and made the time spent fun and educational.
The excursion took us along volcanic cliffs of where Blue-footed Boobies hang out.
We also saw a Lava Heron and hundreds of Sally Lightfoot crabs. In one cove area where out tender driver skillfully maneuvered around rocks so everyone could get a few, we saw some lounging seals and some swimming penguins.
As we headed back to our ship, someone spotted a group of penguins on the shore. While we were not able to turn around to get close, we did get a few photos of them. It was a perfect end to the excursion.
There was lots of conversation at dinner about the things everyone did and saw. It was another terrific day.