Today we visited Santiago Island, Lindblad’s adopted island. Santiago has a unique human history. Sailors and buccaneers visited the island for centuries; their main objective was to obtain food and water. Santiago became a “grocery store” for the sailors because of water sources and the giant tortoises in the highlands. Tortoises can live without food or water for over a year, which made them a perfect resource for fresh meat. Darwin spent most of his time on Santiago when he visited the Galapagos. The island is full of fantastic scenery and wildlife.
We took advantage of every single minute we had on the island. We started our day with options including kayaking and a pre-breakfast walk along the beach. We observed several sea turtles, Galapagos hawks, and various shorebirds. Once we returned to the ship, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast before preparing for different water activities. Guests signed up for snorkeling, kayaking, and tours in the glass-bottom boat. We observed amazing ocean creatures, like manta rays, sea lions, sharks, sea lions, and huge schools of fish. The underwater scene was beautiful.
We couldn’t leave the Galapagos without an Ecuadorian lunch, and we enjoyed trying different flavors from all over the country.
We said goodbye to the Galapagos with an amazing walk along Puerto Egas. We observed shorebirds, sea lions, and Galapagos fur seals. The colors were fascinating, and the sunset was fantastic.
After farewell cocktails, we had a delicious and colorful dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving. What a fantastic way to end our expedition on National Geographic Islander II.
