Northwestern Santa Cruz Island, Venice Islet and Cerro Dragon
We dropped anchor at the northwestern side of Santa Cruz Island. Venice islet was our destination in the morning, a magical place surrounded by mangroves. The various waterways were an invitation for exploration, and some guests joined us on a Zodiac ride along the many small coves and little lagoons in the area. A great variety of different creatures came along to delight our view. Sally Lightfoot crabs eating the algae from the rocks, different fish species underneath us, blue-footed boobies plunge diving, brown pelicans either fishing or just resting on the trees, herons, sea turtles, sea lions, rays and sharks. Some other guests eager for an upper-body workout decided to explore this majestic place by kayak and stay closer to the water’s surface. Later in the morning we snorkeled in Guy Fawkes Islets, these groups of rocks are the remnants of volcanic cones that emerged from the sea in another era long ago. An underwater wall is the place where we observed many fish and many kinds of invertebrates, some of our guests observed a huge manta ray that had a wingspan almost ten feet across.
In the afternoon we had a LEXForum on “Where Has All The Marine Life Gone?” an opportunity to discuss what mankind has done to our oceans and to discover what solutions are in existence, and what we can do ourselves. During the afternoon we hiked on Cerro Dragon. A beautiful shallow lagoon where a few flamingoes were observed in flight, and further on in the lagoon we also observed several other bird species. The weather was overcast but the flamingos’ coloration contrasted in a magical way with the dry tropical forest that that surrounds this place. We observed quite a few big male land iguanas also known as “Land Dragons” next to the impressive prickly pear cacti that serve them as food. We came back on board in time to enjoy the sunset from the sky deck, with drink in hand, and remembered the day with friends and family.
We dropped anchor at the northwestern side of Santa Cruz Island. Venice islet was our destination in the morning, a magical place surrounded by mangroves. The various waterways were an invitation for exploration, and some guests joined us on a Zodiac ride along the many small coves and little lagoons in the area. A great variety of different creatures came along to delight our view. Sally Lightfoot crabs eating the algae from the rocks, different fish species underneath us, blue-footed boobies plunge diving, brown pelicans either fishing or just resting on the trees, herons, sea turtles, sea lions, rays and sharks. Some other guests eager for an upper-body workout decided to explore this majestic place by kayak and stay closer to the water’s surface. Later in the morning we snorkeled in Guy Fawkes Islets, these groups of rocks are the remnants of volcanic cones that emerged from the sea in another era long ago. An underwater wall is the place where we observed many fish and many kinds of invertebrates, some of our guests observed a huge manta ray that had a wingspan almost ten feet across.
In the afternoon we had a LEXForum on “Where Has All The Marine Life Gone?” an opportunity to discuss what mankind has done to our oceans and to discover what solutions are in existence, and what we can do ourselves. During the afternoon we hiked on Cerro Dragon. A beautiful shallow lagoon where a few flamingoes were observed in flight, and further on in the lagoon we also observed several other bird species. The weather was overcast but the flamingos’ coloration contrasted in a magical way with the dry tropical forest that that surrounds this place. We observed quite a few big male land iguanas also known as “Land Dragons” next to the impressive prickly pear cacti that serve them as food. We came back on board in time to enjoy the sunset from the sky deck, with drink in hand, and remembered the day with friends and family.
