We woke up to a wonderful day, ready to explore the land of barren volcanoes and pristine lava flows. Before breakfast, we hiked to the summit of Bartolome Island, a tiny little island full of geological wonders and a place that allows us to travel in time to explore the beginning of all of the Galapagos ecosystems. This island is named after Bartholomew Sullivan, 2nd Lieutenant on board the Beagle. Bartolome is the perfect site to see the unique geological origin of the islands, the premiere colonizations and species over thousands, even millions of years old. Primary successions allows lichens and other pioneer plants to cause bio-erosion of the lava, converting it into soil where other less adapted species will be able to survive.
The view from the top is spectacular, allowing us to see spatter cones and lava tubes. These are common features on the volcanic landscape that resemble a moonscape.
The beach of golden sand is also an attraction of this visitor site. Together with the waters surrounding the area, they offer many opportunities to spot wildlife. Snorkelling here is one of the best experiences our visitors have to see white tipped reef sharks, rays, sea lions, corals, different species of sea stars and of course thousands of colourful fish.
After lunch, the National Geographic Islander, navigated southwest to reach Rabida Island, located south of Santiago Island. Rabida is an impressive, red-coloured Island made mostly of scoria which has a high iron content, causing the rocks to oxidize. This offers a nice contrast with the colours of the sea lions resting in their harems.
We explored the island in different ways. Some of us took the option of kayaking along the shores of Rabida, others went deep water snorkelling to explore the underwater world, while a few others preferred to take a nice walk along the beach trail of the Island. There are a large varieties of ways to explore the Galapagos ecosystems, with incredible opportunities to see wildlife on land and in the water. We enjoyed sea lions playing with us in the water, sea turtles popping their heads out, sea birds diving and fishing, marine iguanas feeding on algae, reef sharks gliding along the bottom of the sea and a large variety of fish. What an amazing day today!
