Bartholomew and Santiago Islands
Today we began our daily activities visiting an island considered to be “an open book of Geology.” This is Bartholomew, on the eastern corner of Santiago Island.
We started with an early walk to the summit of Bartholomew and every step was rewarded with an outstanding view of the pinnacle rock, the little parasitic volcanic cones surrounded by very old orange colored lava flows and the many small lava tubes, some already covered with pioneer plants.
After an excellent breakfast, we disembarked on the golden sandy shoreline of Bartholomew where we had many options. Some guests went across a dune to visit the Pacific green sea turtle nests and there we found some brown pelicans sitting on their nests. We were delighted to find some with newly hatched chicks while others still had some eggs, and were patiently incubating them, waiting for their own ones to hatch.
Some of our guests were very surprised as they had close encounters in the water with Galápagos penguins, Galápagos sea lions and lots of colorful fish of different kinds. The water was amazingly warm and extremely clear for our snorkelers and those who decided to go on to the glass bottom boat also very much enjoyed the tranquil waters with an abundance of fish and marine invertebrates.
The afternoon started on Santiago Island, well known for its black sandy beach, another excellent place to snorkel and enjoy the company of some Galápagos marine iguanas and sea lions. The walk was very interesting and led us through the vegetation of the dry coastal area and the marine intertidal zone surrounded by beautiful volcanic cinder formations embedded in black “pahoe hoe” (Polynesian word for smooth) lava flows. We had a very beautiful sunset as we returned to our ship full of good memories.
Today we began our daily activities visiting an island considered to be “an open book of Geology.” This is Bartholomew, on the eastern corner of Santiago Island.
We started with an early walk to the summit of Bartholomew and every step was rewarded with an outstanding view of the pinnacle rock, the little parasitic volcanic cones surrounded by very old orange colored lava flows and the many small lava tubes, some already covered with pioneer plants.
After an excellent breakfast, we disembarked on the golden sandy shoreline of Bartholomew where we had many options. Some guests went across a dune to visit the Pacific green sea turtle nests and there we found some brown pelicans sitting on their nests. We were delighted to find some with newly hatched chicks while others still had some eggs, and were patiently incubating them, waiting for their own ones to hatch.
Some of our guests were very surprised as they had close encounters in the water with Galápagos penguins, Galápagos sea lions and lots of colorful fish of different kinds. The water was amazingly warm and extremely clear for our snorkelers and those who decided to go on to the glass bottom boat also very much enjoyed the tranquil waters with an abundance of fish and marine invertebrates.
The afternoon started on Santiago Island, well known for its black sandy beach, another excellent place to snorkel and enjoy the company of some Galápagos marine iguanas and sea lions. The walk was very interesting and led us through the vegetation of the dry coastal area and the marine intertidal zone surrounded by beautiful volcanic cinder formations embedded in black “pahoe hoe” (Polynesian word for smooth) lava flows. We had a very beautiful sunset as we returned to our ship full of good memories.
