Today, we awoke to a magical January day that turned out to be a sunny and bright journey, with pleasant air and sea temperatures. First on our schedule of the day was a hike to the summit of Bartolomé, a small island located off the eastern coast of Santiago. This small island holds over 200 craters of various sizes, as well as the most famous landmark of the Galapagos: the Pinnacle Rock. Over 300 wooden steps led us to the top of Bartolomé, from where the views of the lava fields of the island and the surrounding coasts were simply astonishing. We returned on board for a well-earned breakfast after this climb, and then prepared for landing at the orange-tinged beach by the Pinnacle Rock of Bartolomé. This would be our base for the remainder of the morning, from which we could just relax or walk on the soft sand, swim in its blue waters or explore the very rich underwater world by snorkeling off the nearby shore. The place is extremely rich, with large schools of various species of fish, some of them colorful, others not as much, but the abundance is fantastic. We could mention the Razor surgeonfish, Cortez rainbow wrasses, pink cardinal fish, sergeant majors and the beautiful blue-chin parrotfish. Sea stars are also found here, like the Panamic cushion and the chocolate chip sea stars, always a favorite because of its appealing name and shape. On the beach, many of us were surprised by the sudden appearance of a juvenile Galapagos hawk. Like all young, he seemed curious and inquisitive. He landed on the sand and walked towards the vegetation, perhaps to follow a lava lizard or another potential prey, but not before allowing us to photograph it and admire its beauty and innocence.
In the afternoon we had another destination to explore. The National Geographic Endeavour navigated further south along the Santiago Island coast to reach a group of small islets. One of them is Sombrero Chino, named after the peculiar shape it has, which resembles a typical Chinese hat. The sea separates this islet from the Santiago coast by a narrow channel with turquoise and tranquil waters. Many of our guests took another opportunity to snorkel here, and with relatively clear waters, had close encounters with many fish species, and even spotted eagle rays and white-tipped reef sharks. Towards the end of the afternoon we returned to this same area to look for the ever charismatic Galapagos penguin. This is the third smallest penguin in the world, and a small colony inhabits these shores. We were successful, as we found four of them on the rocks near their lava homes, drying their plumage in the dying light of the afternoon. The setting sun spread its beautiful yellow light on the nearby coast, islets and islands… we felt the peace of this magic place around us. What a wonderful way to end the day!
