Santiago and Bartolome Islands
Up to the Northern Hemishpere and Back
Overnight we traveled back up along the coast of Isabela Island and down the other side passing the Equator 2 times on our way to Santiago Island. Santiago and Bartolomeo islands are uninhabited volcanic rock islands. The area is highly protected by the Ecuadorian government because it is a breeding and nesting ground for my endangered species including sea turtles.
Morning seemed to come a bit too quickly and we were a bit stiff after yesterday’s long day of activities but we didn’t want to miss any opportunity to see more of this amazing part of the world. Today we visit Santiago Island, Sullivan Bay where we chose to do a tender ride along the coast in the morning. Some in our party chose to also do a guided walk on the lava flats. We walked on dried lava in Hawaii and it is not kind to one’s ankles so we skipped the walk and did a longer tender ride.
The landscape on Santiago is very different from everyplace else we’ve stopped. Remnants of volcano eruptions can be seen everywhere and there is little vegetation. What looks like a desolate coastline is actually teeming with wildlife. The water was crystal clear so the fish were very visible a number of feet below the surface. As we traveled along the shore we passed turtle nesting grounds where you could see the turtle tracks in the sand to where the mother laid her eggs. They look like tire tracks. We also saw Galapagos penguins, more blue-footed boobies, Galapagos Heron, pelicans, marine iguanas and sally lightfoot crabs. It was amazing how much we saw in under 2 hours. The certified naturalists on board the Flora are a wealth of knowledge on the area. There is one naturalist for every nine passengers and they are all from the Galapagos. You can tell how much they love the area and are proud to share it with visitors. They are also some of the nicest people you will ever meet. This morning the naturalist guide on our tender was Orlando. In addition to the naturalist, there is an expert driver on every tender as well. They do an amazing job maneuvering the tenders among the shallow waters so that everyone gets a chance to see whatever the naturalist is pointing out.
In the afternoon we did another deep sea snorkel and had a wonderful view of the undersea world along the coast of Sullivan Bay.
Just after returning from the ship and getting off the tender we heard a large thud. A huge female sea lion jumped onto the tender to warm up.
Our day was still not over. More to come. A tender ride excursion in late afternoon.