This morning we have the National Geographic Islander anchored off a very extensive lava flow that is approximately 200 years old. A whaling vessel was in the area when the eruption that produced these many square miles of lava began and hence, from their written ship’s log, historians have been able to exactly age this flow.
We spent the entire day in the vicinity of this lava field. In the morning we took a Zodiac ride along the shoreline and then snorkeled in this same area, and in the afternoon we walked across the interesting lava flow.
Early in the morning we disembarked our fleet of four Zodiacs then explored the shoreline of Santiago and sombrero chino. We all spotted noddy terns and soaring Galapagos shearwaters, pelicans, several striated herons, frigates and others. This island, by the way, is aptly named because from a distance it truly does have the shape of a Chinese hat! Also we found some Marine iguanas basking in the early sunshine, warming up in preparation for a morning feed. Being reptiles their body temperature is dependent on the ambient temperature. They feed almost exclusively on marine algae and get very cold while diving in the ocean. So this morning they were warming up before diving to feed.
We returned to the ship and wiggled into our wetsuits and headed out for snorkeling. The snorkelers had a fantastic outing! The marine iguanas were by now sufficiently warmed up and we found a couple of them a meter or so under the water, holding on to the rocks and grazing on the green marine algae. Nowhere else on earth can one see this because marine iguanas are only found in Galapagos. We spotted a few sharks, they are amazing creatures and here in Galapagos you can swim close to them with no danger. It is a sight that still excites all of us. Many multicolor fish were seen among the rocks and corals and at the end, a couple of penguins were resting on top of a rock and made our day full of incredible sightings even better.
The afternoon hike began at 1540. We went to explore Sullivan bay, which is a big pahoehoe lava field and we took countless pictures of the endless textures of the lava. You’ll have to use your imagination to fathom this art of nature. There was little plant or animal life on the lava even after over one hundred years, just a few species of pioneer plants, and only lava lizards and finches still inhabit the area. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk and were again pleased that each outing is unique and there are always interesting, new things to see every day we spend here in the magical enchanted islands!
