We anchored this morning off Santiago Island. The soft warm breeze, the calm sea and our adventurous spirit give us the feeling of the beginning of a great day in the center of the Galápagos Archipelago. Santiago is a large island with several visitor sites and contrasting landscapes. It has an amazing shoreline dotted with wildlife, a vast dry forest, evergreen regions up in the highlands and several young lava flows.  



In the morning before breakfast, we explored Espumilla Beach. The abundant brown sand and the mangrove forest provide a perfect environment for pacific green sea turtles to nest. At this time of the year, these turtles are in breeding season and we found a lot of nests, many of them with eggs. The pacific green sea turtles will continue to come here to nest, and their number will grow as the breeding season reaches its peak. At the end of the walk we had a great surprise! It was a baby shark feeding in sallow water; the waves pushing it in and out of the water. It was so close to our feet! What a morning we had. 



Later in the morning, once we had breakfast, we were ready to explore another place. This time we headed to explore the cliffs and the underwater world at Buccaneer’s Cove. Here, we had the opportunity for kayaking in this extraordinary landscape of volcanoes, and red cliffs made up of iron rich lava. Among the many options, some of us took the opportunity to do deep water snorkeling, while others enjoyed the same highlights from the glass bottom boat.



While we were having lunch, the National Geographic Endeavour weighed anchor and headed to Puerto Egas, our next destination. Shortly after anchoring we headed to the shore for hiking and snorkeling. The hike along the fringing lava of the coastline was incredible. This shore is dotted with many animals, such as marine iguanas, sea lions and different types of shore birds. Puerto Egas offers the best walk along the shore because there is a combination of landscapes, wildlife, and amazing geological features. 



A very inspiring place with so much to discover and so much to learn!