Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
Practically everyone chose to walk the steps to the top of Bartolomé. The sea was flat calm and the sky overhead partly cloudy, excellent conditions for what could have been an otherwise very hot visit on shore! The ocean beckoned to many after breakfast, so snorkelers and swimmers and Glass Bottom Boaters went out – some having first climbed over a sand dune to investigate the south beach for wildlife activity. Not too much was stirring, except for lava lizards, but evidence of intense nesting by sea turtles the night before was all over the place.
By the time we sailed into James Bay in the afternoon, our first experience with rain looked to be ahead of us. The first ashore were prepared, but soon the clouds drifted off and both walkers and snorkelers finished the visit not only dry, but with some lovely late afternoon lighting for our photographers. On the irregular and slippery lava coastline, some predatory behavior by a small octopus was spotted near a tide pool. It tackled, covered, and dragged away a Sally Lightfoot crab larger than it! Outside the water!
Snorkelers had a wonderful time as well, both morning and afternoon. White-tipped reef sharks, sting rays and Galápagos penguins at both sites!
For our last evening, those with laptops set them up, so it was a delightful finale to wander the lounge and spend three minutes (max) in front of each. They were beautiful summaries of what often cannot be expressed in words. Under the tutelage of Flip Nicklin from National Geographic and Jennifer Davidson from Lindblad Expeditions, this week resulted in some absolutely fabulous images from our guests!
