On Wednesday, we woke up as we reached the shores of Santiago Island. This is where Darwin expended most of his time in the Galapagos. Nine days camping, with the sky for a roof and the ground for a table.
At this island at the center of the archipelago, we began our day of exploration with a walk along Espumilla beach. The orange light of the first hours of the morning gave us great opportunities for photography on this calm outing, where we saw a brown noddy waiting on top of a pelican for a fish to escape the guttural sack of his host. We saw turtles copulating, blue-footed boobies plunge diving for a fresh breakfast, and the elusive ghost crabs with their sessile eyes coming out of the sand.
The morning was very active with snorkeling, where some of our snorkelers saw a manta ray! Kayaking and paddle boarding in Buccaneer’s Cove were also offered. In this site, geological formations, like the praying monk, captured our attention. In addition, we had a few rounds of glass-bottom boat rides, a fabulous way to get a clear view of the fish without getting wet!
A well-deserved Mexican lunch and a talk on human history of the Galapagos with naturalist Enrique Silva, allowed us to enjoy the common areas of the boat before disembarking in Egas Port, where we had a black-sand beach for ourselves to swim, relax, and snorkel. To end the outings of the day, we went for a walk around the shore and intertidal pools of Santiago with sittings of marine iguanas, sea lions, shore birds, and Galapagos fur seals.
After cocktail hour and recap, a barbeque in the upper deck for dinner was followed by a wonderful musical performance with the Captain—the songs were a wonderful ending for another day in the Enchanted Islands.
