Bartolomé & Santiago Island
Today couldn’t have been better! We had a clear morning with a soft cool breeze and for our first outing we disembarked on the stunning island of Bartolomé. This is a tiny island, around one square kilometre in size, but it is an excellent place to observe the remarkable landscapes and learn about the geological formations of Galápagos. Bartolomé is speckled with cinder cones and volcanic ash and supports a few pioneer plants that struggle for survival in an environment that does not offer much more than rocks and hot dry ash.
Our hike ended at the top of the island where your efforts are compensated by the spectacular view of pinnacle rock, the golden beaches on both sides of Bartolomé and Santiago Island. Darwin camped on Santiago for nine days during his famous voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle in 1835.
After breakfast we disembarked on a crescent beach and took a short walk over a sand dune to the southern beach. Here we were thrilled by running ghost crabs and mating sea turtles along with a number of shore birds, among them oyster catchers, plovers, boobies and brown pelicans searching for a meal.
Later in the afternoon, we visited Santiago Island where we snorkeled with sea lions in the calm coastal waters and then had a wonderful walk along the lava shores. As the sun dropped towards the horizon we enjoyed listening to the sounds of nature: the birds, the ocean, the sea lions and the Galápagos fur seals. The fur seal were hunting to near extinct during the whaling era and today, although their populations have increased, they still need protection.
The afternoon’s walk along the tidal area of Puerto Egas is one of the best places for bird watchers and photographers due to the incredible variety of wildlife. By sunset we were ending the afternoon walk and concluding a day beyond our expectations
We cannot wait to see more of this enchanted world of the origin of the species!
