Espumilla Beach, Buccaneer Cove and Puerto Egas, Santiago Island
This morning we awoke to find we were anchored off a long beach where the night before several sea turtles had nested; we could see their tracks heading both up and down the beach in the wet sand. Naturalist Juan Carlos took a group of guests kayaking along the rocky shore and then at the base of a spectacular tuff cliff all the way to Buccaneer Cove. They enjoyed the calm ocean and perfect, cool morning and saw pelicans, striated herons, swallow–tail gulls and a couple fur seals.
Naturalists Xavier, Jonathan and I led three groups of guests on a two hour hike behind Espumilla Beach. We saw a variety of animals, birds and plants and had a wonderful outing! Walking along a shallow rainwater-filled lagoon we found fiddler crabs, pin-tailed ducks, a curious great blue heron that paraded alongside us, and a whimbrel. I coaxed an inquisitive broad billed flycatcher to perch on a stick that I held in my hand (as Juan Carlos had also done on yesterday’s hike). These flycatchers are cute, nosey and utterly charming little birds! We ducked under heavy mangrove branches and climbed an old spatter cone covered in ferns and lichens and then hiked beneath the fresh bright green leaves of the biggest palo santo trees we have yet to see. A hawk perched nearby and watched us as we passed, Galapagos mockingbirds (mostly in pairs as with the rains the breeding season has begun) sang and flitted in the branches around us and solid black male ground finches buzzed and sang as they tried to attract a mate. By the time we got back to the ship we were tired and hot, but a hearty buffet breakfast awaited us and we were soon again content.
After breakfast and a bit of a rest, two Zodiacs (with Xavier and Jonathan) went out to explore the dramatic coastline at Buccaneer Cove. Blue-footed boobies, swallow-tail gulls, endemic helio- sea stars and the lovely rocky landscape made for an enjoyable outing. Two groups (with Lynn and Juan Carlos) chose to snorkel from the Zodiacs and were rewarded with sightings of both eagle and sting rays, several white tipped reef sharks and many species of schooling fish.
After lunch and a well-deserved siesta, I gave a talk about Charles Darwin. Talking about Darwin while anchored off the island of Santiago is wonderfully appropriate, since he spent nine days out of the 19 that he was on shore while visiting the Galapagos, camped on Santiago. In the late afternoon we headed out for a walk along the trail at Puerto Egas. We had a marvelous afternoon and were glad that the sun did not come out strong and full as it threatened at first to do. The cloud cover was welcome and we could see that rain was advancing but this time, for a change, we stayed dry.
We saw myriad lovely creatures as we walked! We were able to compare the sea lions (and we enjoyed watching their playful pups!) with many fur seals, we watched dozens of marine iguanas - some swimming, others resting and a few being cleaned by Sally lightfoot crabs – and observed a female adult hawk, and a nesting oystercatcher with a specked egg. As we returned to the ship a glorious bright rainbow graced the sky to the north of us where the dark rain cloud had been menacing all afternoon. It shimmered for many minutes and the contrast of its sparkling colors with the barren black of a recent lava flow on Santiago was breathtaking. We’ve had yet another very different day. It’s been an unexpected Valentine’s Day – yes, simply a marvelous day -in las islas encantadas!
