We started our day with a pre-breakfast outing and a dry landing on “Espumilla beach, which is a black sandy beach off the cost of Santiago. Once on land we spotted a couple of pacific green sea turtles nesting and plenty of turtle tracks along the sandy coast. A group of us hiked further into the island, while others chose to go on a photography walk along the coast. A kayaking outing was also offered along Buccaneer’s Cove.
After breakfast we had a Zodiac ride along Buccaneer’s cove, getting a chance to spot swallow tailed gulls, blue footed boobies, brown pelicans, a couple of hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks on the surface of the ocean, some Mobula rays mating and interesting geological formations created as a result of erosion over the years. Some of us opted for going snorkeling while others went for a Zodiac ride. A couple of white tipped reef sharks were spotted during the snorkeling outing, as well as a large variety of fish among the rocky reefs.
After lunch we navigated to Egas Port and had a dry landing followed by a hike along the coast of Santiago. The low tide had exposed several tide pools full of incredible sea life and we witnessed interactions between predator and prey. We spotted several migratory birds like ruddy turnstones and semi-palmated plovers along with several marine iguanas feeding on the algae exposed by the low tide.
At the end of the hike we got to the “grottos”, (stunning collapsed lava tubes with ocean water flowing in and out of them). This location is where one can see Galapagos fur seals and sometimes regular sea lions coexisting.
We were lucky to have a nice sunset with golden hues, which provided beautiful light for our photographs to end this wonderful day.
