Sombrero Chino and Sullivan Bay, Santiago Island
This day began with a beautiful sunrise as we arrived to anchor next to our visiting site this morning: Sombrero Chino. As the sun moved behind clouds the colors of the lava field next to us began to change, and a frigate bird flew by the National Geographic Islander. Our expectations began to increase as the time to search for the endemic Galápagos penguin got closer and closer. By the time we boarded the Zodiacs the sun shone down without any clouds interrupting its light, and we spotted the penguins among the small dark lava rocks. We finally saw one penguin sitting on a lava rock, a juvenile. The good news was that right next to it on a rock in front were two adult penguins were preening themselves. Soon they might be in the water searching for their meal; the small fish that live in the waters nearby.
After our encounter with the penguins it was time to snorkel with marine iguanas. The day began to get hotter and the iguanas were probably warm enough to go diving too. As expected there were some iguanas feeding underwater, and the ever playful sea lion around the snorkelers.
During the afternoon the lava fields of Sullivan Bay showed us the type of conditions that animals that arrived to the Galápagos had to survive. It was basically a barren lava field with a few plants and some lava lizards, several painted locusts, and the most impressive forms that lava can have as it flows and solidifies.
On the way back to the ship we could see some blue footed boobies plunge diving by the shoreline, using the last light before it was too late to search for their food.
