Dragon’s Hill & Sombrero Chino
Today we returned to Santa Cruz Island, but this time alongside the pristine north-western coast, for our morning outing to “Cerro Dragon” (Dragon’s Hill), home of the famed, endemic Galápagos land iguanas. This particular population was almost wiped out by feral dogs in the sixties; however a hugely successful captive and semi-captive breeding program has allowed the population to recover.
After a beautiful walk through forests of giant prickly pear cacti and incense trees, where we had the chance to encounter these prehistoric-like creatures feeding or just basking in the sun, we returned quickly to the ship for our next activity, snorkelling around Guy Fawkes Islets where it’s easy to see corals, sponges and fish on a spectacular 100-foot vertical wall. For the non-snorkelers, swimming and relaxing at a white coral sand beach was the option.
A well-deserved lunch was ready for us upon returning from our water activities, followed by a very interesting presentation about Charles Darwin in Galápagos by Naturalist Gilda Gonzales.
The afternoon found us already anchored close to Sombrero Chino and Bainbridge islets, a group of interesting small volcanoes, probably formed when the sea level was lower, as parasitic cones of Santiago Island.
Snorkelling was the highlight of the afternoon, as some guests had the chance to have a first-eye encounter with some white tip reef sharks! Kayaking and swimming were the other activities for the day, followed by a Zodiac ride along the coast of Santiago in search of the always charming Galápagos sea lions, the unique Galápagos penguins and the moon-like landscape of the lava fields reaching the ocean.
The day came to end, but with the gift of another beautiful sunset on this magical and always inspiring treasured archipelago.
