Today in the morning we visited Punta Pitt. Some groups went for a hike looking for an up-close look at the colony of red footed boobies, enjoying the magnificent landscape at the north-eastern most side of San Cristobal Island. San Cristobal is among the oldest islands in the archipelago, and has five geological stages, this area being the youngest. My group opted for a Zodiac ride and snorkeling off the beach, where we found red footed boobies, frigate birds, swallowed-tail gulls, tropic birds, sea lions and marine iguanas either nesting, flying or swimming around.
Immediately after lunch, kids worked with naturalist Gilda on their journals for Young Explorers, and with naturalist/photo instructor Antonio collecting photos taken and applying the photo techniques that we have learned for a slideshow presentation.
In the afternoon, we went for deep water snorkeling at Kicker Rock, which is a geological structure of tuff emerging from the ocean, as remains of the eroded summit of an inactive crater. It was a challenging adventure, but it was completely worth it; we snorkeled with many sea turtles, a few sea lions, and even a few white-tip reef sharks. Some groups had the chance to watch a hammerhead shark passing by our zodiac on our way heading back to the ship.
Before sunset, we circumnavigated around Kicker Rock while guests and naturalists were at the bow taking photos of the fabulous setting.
Our Farewell Cocktail with the captain occurred at night, as we all wished that this new year 2015 has started by fulfilling your expectations, both of travelling with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic, and of exploring one of the most fascinating and unique destinations on Earth.
