Santa Cruz Island (Cerro Dragon – El Eden)
Today the National Geographic Endeavour is located southwest of Santa Cruz Island. Early in the morning, the photo expedition group disembarks in search of the light for good photography. After breakfast all of our guests make their way ashore to walk the trails. As soon as we land we see a Blue Footed booby on the rocks, followed by a white sand beach that has marine iguanas, Lava Heron and Great Blue Heron. Then there is a brackish water lagoon where we find a feeding Flamingo and some other shore birds with a background of green vegetation and lava rocks.
As we continue, shade is the place to be while interpreting the fauna and flora of this area to our young explorers and/or future naturalists. Under the hot sun we found the highlight of this place, the endemic Land Iguana. This reptile has adapted to the hard conditions of the Galapagos, lack of water and long periods of high temperatures. After this, we continue to a view point where we were able to see the entire bay. Then we continued looking for more species. Back onboard the National Geographic Endeavour our guests get ready and depart for the snorkeling site, which was delightful and refreshing after the hike.
Back on the ship after our guests enjoyed a typical Ecuadorian lunch, they joined our team of photographers to get some tips to improve their photography. At the same time, the naturalists were looking for wildlife from the Bridge as we navigated this area. We were able to see jumping Manta Rays and a small group of Common Dolphins followed by the orange color of the sunset. It was a day full of good moments and memorable experiences that will stay in our guests’ hearts; what a joy.
