Today was “reptile day” for us in the Galapagos. Cold blooded animals have successfully colonized these islands for millions of years. Some of these reptiles are bigger, more colorful and more attractive than others. In the case of the land iguanas, there are three species within the islands. One species is located only in Santa Fe Island, another inhabits six different islands, and the recently discovered pink land iguana can only be found on one volcano within Isabela Island. Every one of them has found their niche and had to adapt to their home island.
There are two islands where life inhabits within a unique and astonishing landscape. South Plaza and Santa Fe Islands are very small geological formations, but each one of them has a lot to offer for our guests and that is the reason we spend the whole day exploring this terrain. The land on this island is covered with red succulents, prickly pears and land iguanas pretty much everywhere - if you can spot them out of their almost perfect camouflage. After the hike on South Plaza, we had a chance to jump off the ship into the water and swim in the refreshing ocean.
After lunch we navigated towards Santa Fe Island. On our way there, we spotted humpback whales breaching. We dropped anchored and got ready to explore the place. While some went snorkeling, others went kayaking. While kayaking, a female humpback and her calf passed a few hundreds of feet from us. It was a quick spotting for us but some of the guests who decided to stay and relax on the ship had the chance to see the whales very close and got to photograph them as they passed by the anchored vessel.
While snorkeling, for sure the main highlights are the Galapagos sea lions. We also spotted pacific green sea turtles and rays. A few reef sharks were also seen, eels and many species of fishes in just one day.
We hiked on Santa Fe, and saw plenty of the endemic land iguanas, some cactus finches, mockingbirds and many sea lions. Once on our Zodiac, as soon as we left the beach, a large school of spotted eagle rays and about 50 white tip reef sharks were swimming in the shallow waters, gently moving next to the Zodiac as our farewell committee!
