Two of
the smallest islands located at the central part of the archipelago are home to
two of the three endemic species of land iguanas. With the fist beams of sun we
headed to Plaza Island, which lies just off the eastern coast of Santa Cruz and
formed from uplifted marine lava. As soon we set foot on the island, sea lions,
swallow tailed gulls, marine and land iguanas greeted our guests. We walked
along the barren terrain observing the inhospitable landscape, evidence of the
lack of rainfall. Due to this climate, land iguanas patiently wait under the
prickly pears for some leaves, flowers, or fruit to fall and they eat the
leaves of succulent plants to compensate for the lack of fresh water. From the
top of the cliff the view contrasted our location dramatically, because in the
distance the highlands of Santa Cruz Island looked green and cloudy, while
along the vertical walls of the cliffs abundant numbers of seabirds fluttered
around their nests calling unceasingly. We observed shearwaters, swallow tailed
gulls, red billed tropic birds, frigate birds, blue and Nazca boobies.
Just
before noon the National Geographic
Islander started sailing to Santa Fe Island, which is just two hours away
from South Plaza. In the middle of the navigation, Carlos, our Expedition
Leader, announced that sea lions and a pod of bottle nose dolphins were
swimming close to the ship. We observed many of them jumping, as if inviting us
to play with them, while in the air frigate birds observed them attentively
waiting for leftover fish or any other morsel. As soon as we arrived at Santa
Fe Island, the first group departed to kayak around the bay where we were
anchored and others left for snorkeling. It took us a while, but we succeeded
in finding green sea turtles, more than 15 white tipped reef sharks, and
playful sea lions. Just before sunset, we disembarked on the white sandy beach,
where sea lions welcomed us followed by Santa Fe (Conolophus Palidus) land iguanas, a different species than we saw
in the morning. As we returned back onboard we saw sea birds return to the
island, some sharks showed their dorsal fins, and we thought about the new
memories we made of this unique day in this beautiful place called Galapagos.
