We navigated most of the night on a calm sea and awoke anchored alongside the lava flows and barren lava fields of the central island of Santiago. Darwin too visited this island when he explored the Galapagos in 1835. He spent nine days camped on northern Santiago among the land iguanas and fearless Galapagos doves while Captain Fitzroy and the Beagle crew mapped the archipelago and searched for drinking water.
Some of us started the day with stretching exercises on the sky deck lead by Maria (and ending with a healthy green smoothie drink). Others slept in this morning and were awaken by hotel manager Daniel’s cheerful voice announcing that breakfast was served. Following a bountiful meal of eggs benedict, tropical fruits and/or cereals, we boarded Zodiacs for a cruise along the rough black lava coast of Santiago and the rusty red shore of Sombrero Chino. We spied marine iguanas sunning on the lava, and many striated herons waiting patiently for fish to come close into shore so they could grab them. We learned that the extensive and barren lava flow, which blanketed this southeastern end of the island as far as the eye could see, was relatively recent and dates from 1897!
I pointed out an amazing endemic plant species, the Galapagos cherry tomato, which has evolved to withstand arid and salty conditions. The tomato plants were green, luxurious and flowering while most of the other plant life was gray and dry this time of the year. We also followed three feeding penguins as they flitted along close to shore, chasing the tiny and plentiful fish that they feed upon.
Back on board the National Geographic Islander we slipped on our wetsuits and then three pangas of guests and guides headed out to snorkel along the coast of Santiago. In addition, naturalist Fernando took a few of our guests to a lovely small white sand beach that they had all to themselves! Those who chose to snorkel had a blast! The water was cool but clear and absolutely crowded with fish! We swam among dozens of species of fish and saw several black-tipped reef sharks – some swimming and others sleeping in caves – and one pert little Galapagos penguin. This charming black and white bird stood for a time on a lava rock and preened his short, fur-like feathers. Then he hopped into the water again and sped past us chasing a swarm of tiny fish.
Some of us spotted an octopus, Jonathan found a lobster, and we all tremendously enjoyed this snorkeling outing, which several guests said was the best one this week! We returned to the ship for hot showers and Captain Teran took us alongside Bainbridge Islet so we could see into its crater lake from the sky deck. There were five brilliant pink flamingoes sitting on their tall mud nests and a dozen others feeding in the furthest corner of the lake.
After lunch and siesta, I gave a talk about my own personal experiences doing research in the Galapagos for my PhD. By 15:30 the afternoon had cooled off and we went to shore for a lava hike at Sullivan Bay. This was the northeastern edge of the same lava flow we had cruised along in the morning, but here it was smooth and easy to walk on. We were delighted with the ever changing textures and the variety of lava structures that we admired and photographed.
As the sun set we returned to the ship, many of us spotting penguins en route. Tonight we enjoyed a barbecue dinner on the sky deck under the stars. What a wonderful way to end yet another magical day in Las Islas Encantadas!
