Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino
This morning we woke up on the northern side of Santa Cruz Island. Our expedition brought us today to a different and beautiful volcanic landscape. Our Zodiac fleet took us to shore for a walk around a location known as Cerro Dragon. We went in search of Galápagos land iguanas, majestic reptiles found in this paradisiacal visitors’ site. Since the mid-1970’s the Galápagos National Park in conjunction with the Charles Darwin Research Station have been working on the restoration of the endangered population of Galápagos land iguanas of these areas. Unfortunately, feral dogs were fiercely decimating the iguanas at a fast rate. We witnessed first hand the success and great progress of both, the dogs’ eradication program and the repatriation of land iguanas to this area. These titanic efforts are sincerely praiseworthy. Nowadays the Galápagos land iguanas of Cerro Dragon have a better ecosystem to carry on with their lives. With excitement and admiration we observed several individuals along the trail. One land iguana in particular was very special for it was found just in the middle of the trail. Its beautiful good-looks and bright colors provoked the admiration of their observers. Immediately after coming back from the walk we got ready for our next morning’s activity. A soft cool breeze and the sun shining were our companions while snorkelling outing around Guy Fawkes Islet.
The afternoon found us anchored nearby Sombrero Chino. A peculiar “Chinese hat-shaped” volcanic cone dominates the rough volcanic landscape of the surroundings. Different activities that included kayaking, snorkelling, Zodiac cruises were practiced by all. Reluctantly we came back onboard with our minds and hearts filled with the indescribable feeling of having spent a full day exploring these exotic and remote locations.
