We woke up early in the morning to explore San Cristobal Island. We started out on a beautiful sandy beach at Punta Pitt. This site offers a magnificent walk to a higher altitude, which gets progressively more scenic as we ascend. At the very top, we can stand near a cliff, were red-footed boobies nest, and take advantage of the dynamic lift of the wind bouncing against the volcanic walls. This place is ideal for action photography of birds in flight. We had countless opportunities to take beautiful images of the birds flying over a colorful background of greens, reds and blacks. The green and mostly red vegetation that grows on the black volcanic rock, adds a surreal feeling to our photos.
San Cristobal is a very old island, about 5 million years old, and it is home to unique species of animals found nowhere else in Galapagos, including varieties of lava lizards, mockingbirds and giant tortoise.
After the walk, some of our guests enjoyed the beautiful beach, taking the opportunity to cool off in the water and play with the sea lions. Then we returned to the National Geographic Endeavour for a wonderful lunch, followed by a briefing about departure information for the following day.
In the afternoon, we headed towards a scenic rock called Cerro Brujo. This bay with white sandy beaches is a perfect spot to relax and reflect on our journey this week around the islands. Beautiful great blue herons, sea birds and sea lions were seen all along the coast. It is a perfect site to contemplate the magnificent nature, the color of the sky, the dramatic landscape, and to breathe the pure air.
We spent our afternoon there, taking pictures and having fun. On our way back to the ship with the sunset in the background, I heard a comment from one of our guests: “I don’t want this trip to end, I don’t want to come back to real life,” she exclaimed. Indeed, Galapagos is a dream that no one wants to awaken from.
To end the day, we watched the sunset from the decks of the National Geographic Endeavour, near the majestic rocks of Leon Dormido. What a grand ending for our expedition through the Galapagos Islands!
