Today we started our day at the northwest end of Santa Cruz Island, at a visitor’s site of the National Park known as Cerro Dragon, named after the Galapagos land iguanas. After breakfast, we disembarked on the rocky shore that took us to a trail by the coast. The morning was spectacular, blue skies and a bright sun were our companions during this hike. On the coast, we spotted several marine iguanas basking on the carpet mat plant, creating perfect photo opportunities. Further on, we walked by a brackish lagoon that took us to the land iguanas’ territory. After learning about the ecology and biology of these endemic reptiles, we climbed a steep hill to gain an amazing view of Santiago Island and a group of small satellites islets known as Guy Fawkes, named after a British man that almost blew up the House of Lords in the 1600s.
Later in the morning, we had two optional activities—shallow and deep water snorkeling. The snorkeling conditions today were great, with good visibility allowing us to explore the rich underwater realm of Galapagos. On the deep water snorkeling excursion, we spotted many different species of colorful reef fish such as parrots, damsels, surgeons, and creolefish. Sea lions were also part of the experience, and even a huge manta ray appeared from the deep surrounding waters at one point. It was a great afternoon.
After our Ecuadorian lunch in the afternoon, we went for Zodiac rides along the coast of Eden islet. We enjoyed the outstanding scenery of the littoral zone of Santa Cruz Island. Later in the afternoon, the National Geographic Endeavour II did a circumnavigation around one of the most famous islets—Daphne Major. A couple of British scientists have been studying Darwin finches on this islet for over 40 years, measuring the changes in the sizes of the beak of finches affected by the environmental conditions of each year. This is something that Darwin was not able to track. What a great way to finish another memorable day in this magical place.
