Every day is special here in the Galápagos Islands. Today we visited one of the highlights of the archipelago: North Seymour. Just a speck on the Galápagos chart, this uplifted platform of basalt is now completely colonized by several endemic and native species. As soon as we set foot ashore we were struck by the natural beauty of this site. We were surrounded by a surreal landscape dominated by silver, leafless trees called ‘palo santo’ or incense trees. This island lacks fresh or rain water, so all species here have evolved a stunning resilience to prolonged draughts. Besides the palo santo trees, we also found the endemic Opuntias, or prickly pear cactus, a vital species for the survival of the local land iguanas. We encountered several of them along the trail, soaking up the morning sunshine. Many of the surrounding trees and bushes were decorated with frigatebirds, one of more than twenty species of marine bird that inhabit the archipelago. There was a lot of activity amongst both the magnificent and the great frigatebird species: several males had their bright red pouches fully inflated in order to attract a female, many females were busy bringing food for their chicks, and numerous juveniles were in the process of mastering their flight skills. We can definitely say that we were able to observe them at every stage of their reproductive cycle. Simply stunning!
During lunch time, our ship navigated further west in order to reach our next destination: Rabida. This island looks so different from the previous one, which is a common occurrence in this unique archipelago. Rabida is small and hilly, and its lava flows have a rusty color of iron oxide. We began our afternoon activities with a snorkeling outing, either from the red beach or from a small cove nearby. The underwater world here is amazing, with many fish species like parrot fish, puffers, damsels and even scorpion fish. Later in the afternoon, we landed ashore for a short walk along the beach. Behind it, there is a hidden pond of brackish waters where we encountered a solitary greater flamingo. As the sun set, the colors of the island, the sea and the sun became even more stunning, turning this into another fascinating and unforgettable day in the ‘Encantadas’.
