Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island and Daphne Islet
Today is the halfway point of this wonderful week in the Galápagos Islands aboard National Geographic Endeavour. The very first day of this expedition our travelers were a bit skeptical of what they were going to see and feel here, but bit by bit they grow more comfortable with the idea of being few days out of their normal zone, their homes, their jobs—out of the routine that one has around the place they live.
It is eight ‘o clock, and I’m the last naturalist in the rotation order to go out today. I see our travelers’ faces, one by one while they disembark to start a new day of exploration, this time on Dragon Hill, Santa Cruz Island. I notice that they are very happy, more relaxed, more in touch with nature, I can tell they love the idea of doing this every day: exploring, walking, taking pictures, playing with sea lions in the water while snorkeling, stargazing, playing guitar at night, talking with new people they meet on board, making new friends, etc. etc.—in other words living “the Galápagos life”—such as a sea lion on the beach sleeping with no worries or stress at all, or like a giant tortoise, walking slowly but secure in knowing what they want, where they’re going.
Once ashore, we had a nice walk to observe black marine iguanas basking on the black lava. With the white sand of a very small beach, the green-reddish sesuvium shrubs, and the green-grayish of the Palo santo trees this place has a magical contrast. Behind the coast there is a brackish water lagoon with some pink flamingos, it added more contrast to our visit and then farther in some yellow land iguanas shaded below the cacti forest waiting for the falling fruits, they resemble the Komodo Dragons found so far from here. In the distance several old-eroded volcanic cones can be seen as proof of the geological age of this islands, about 2.5 million years old. It is a magical view, as Darwin described the landscape of Galápagos: Inhospitable, unique, dramatic, isolated, thus it seems like the first appearance of life on Earth.
After our walk we cooled off at the beach. It was a hot day with a blue sky, and we came back on board for lunch, and right at the moment we were enjoying our Ecuadorian buffet some dolphins came close to our ship, why not! Let’s go to see them! Lunch isn’t going anywhere!
Later in the afternoon we went to “el Eden,” a nice islet close to the northwest coast of Santa Cruz Island. We snorkeled with sea turtles, fish of many colors, white tip reef sharks, and other little creatures of the seas were seen along the shore. Then we moved to Daphne Islet, a very old tuff cone standing in the middle of the vast ocean. This is the home of several seabirds that nest here, and also home of one of the most well-known scientists nowadays, Peter Grant and his wife Rosemary, they live on Daphne a few weeks per year (December, January and march). For 30 years they’ve followed in the steps of Darwin, studying finches to give us more clues to understand Darwin’s ideas. At the end of this great day we saw a breathtaking sunset.
