Santiago Island
We traveled all night from the western realm of Galapagos back to the central islands, and anchored this morning off the coast of Santiago Island alongside a long brown beach named “Espumilla.” Deep ruts in the sand that we could see from a distance were evidence that several sea turtles had nested on this beach during the night. Two teams of kayakers paddled off this morning and enjoyed a swift breeze that pushed them along at the base of the impressive cliffs of Santiago Island. They watched a pair of mating sea turtles; the males come to the nesting beaches to find the females.
Giancarlo and Juan Carlos, in three Zodiacs of guests, disembarked under rough conditions for the walk. I had warned everyone to protect their camera gear from the waves and good thing they followed my advice! Wet pants were one thing we could put up with, but wet cameras would have been depressing. Waves broke into the Zodiacs as we scrambled to shore.
The hike led us under the mangroves and then up a hill beneath lovely Palo Santo trees. The sap of this dominant tree has a strong sweet smell and on the mainland it is burned as incense in churches, hence its name “holy stick.” We enjoyed the curious juvenile hawks that came to have a look at us and flew just above our heads. From a rocky outcrop we had a nice view and once back on the ship we had a hearty and much deserved breakfast.
Captain Pablo Garces had his crew pull up our anchor and we moved to re-anchor in Buccaneer’s Cove. Here all four Zodiacs were lowered and we boarded them for a “panga ride” in this picturesque and historic place. Pirates once careened their ships on shore here for repairs and Charles Darwin spent nine days camped near this Cove over 175 years ago. Before lunch and our afternoon siesta I gave a presentation on Darwin and explained a bit about his childhood, education and visits to Galapagos.
In the afternoon we had a beach option, and the swimming and snorkeling was good despite the gray skies. Sea lions and sea turtles, along with schools of colorful tropical fish, were seen not far off shore. A few of us remained on the beach but most of the group headed off for a walk along the rugged and dramatic shoreline of Puerto Egas.
On the hike we saw several sea lions with young pups and also young fur seals. Both these members of the Pinnipeds (“wing-footed”) are endemic species found only in Galapagos!
We counted 9 species of herons and shore birds, took a few more photos of marine iguanas and the brilliant red Sally light foot crabs and had a good look at an elegant oystercatcher using his thick red beak to probe for delicacies in the tidal pools.
The sun shone through thick gray clouds with golden rays and soon set quickly behind the volcanoes of Isabela Island in the west. We boarded the Zodiacs and motored contentedly back to the National Geographic Islander; another wonderful and varied day in the enchanted islands!
