Bartolomé and Rabida Island
These two islands are very small compared with the large ones of the archipelago. Bartolomé has the most beautiful landscapes in Galápagos, with great snorkeling opportunities. On the other hand, Rabida has an impressive red sand beach with lots of Galápagos sea lions—it also has a very small brackish lagoon that is a habitat for flamingos and lagoon birds.
This morning we disembarked before breakfast to hike to the top of Bartolomé Island. As we were ascending the view got better and better with every single step. At the top an impressive 360° view revealed the presence of more than 20 islands far off in the distance. Later in the morning, we disembarked at a golden volcanic beach to explore, relax, and snorkel off the beach. This tiny island is considered to be an open textbook into geology because there are volcanic spatter and cinder cones everywhere. Just as exciting, the visit to the rim of the sunken volcano was observed by everybody. Being at the top of this spectacular place was like being in a different world surrounded by peace and nature.
Over lunch we sailed for a couple of hours to continue along our adventure. First we went out by Zodiac and then as a group of kayakers to enjoyed the dramatic eroded coastline of Rabida. This is the nesting time for the Pacific green sea turtles, and there were dozens of them popping their head out of the water next to our kayakers. This was simply a unique experience our guests have never had before. A second group explored by Zodiac and went deep water snorkeling in a place we almost guarantee the presence of a lot of fish, feeding marine iguanas, playful Galápagos sea lions, turtles rays, and sharks as well. It couldn’t be a better day here in paradise.
‘Till tomorrow my dear friends, because we are just pulling anchor up to continue our navigation towards the western part of Galápagos, where Fernandina and Isabela are located. Everyone aboard is just happy to have come to this isolated archipelago for vacation.
