Santa Cruz Island and Daphne Major, 9/18/2024, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
This morning, National Geographic Endeavour II anchored at the northwestern coast of Santa Cruz Island. During the morning, our guests explored a Galapagos dry forest in search of Palo Santo trees, giant Galapagos prickly pear cactus, and Galapagos land iguanas.
In the afternoon, we explored Borrero Bay, which is a mangrove ecosystem where some of the guests kayaked, and others went on Zodiac rides.
Salvador Cazar studied biology at the Universidad Nacional Del Sur, Bahía Blanca, in Argentina and at the Catholic University of Ecuador. Between 1988 and 1994, Salvador worked as a naturalist and tour leader for several national and international to...
Today we had a very interesting day, starting with a visit to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center to learn about its conservation projects. Later, we drove to the highlands of Santa Cruz into the agricultural zone and visited a small coffee and sugarcane farm, a family run business established in the Galapagos for close to 50 years. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Manzanillo Ranch and walked among giant tortoises in the wild. Today we had a mixture of experiences, learning about tortoises, conservation, and management and experiencing how the Galapaguenos make their living in such a special and vulnerable world like the islands and sharing their skills with the local community.
We started our day early at Punta Cormorant just as the sun came up. Nearby, the rocky outline of Devil’s Crown stood out in the distance. As we landed, sea lions were waiting on the beach, giving us a lively start to the morning. During our walk, we visited a large brackish lagoon that’s known for attracting flamingos. We were lucky to see a few of them, which can be rare depending on the season. The highlight of the day was snorkeling at Champion Islet. The water was calm and clear, and we saw a wide variety of marine life. Sea lions swam nearby, and we spotted plenty of colorful fish. In the afternoon, we went kayaking in a quiet, protected area, sharing the space with sea turtles and rays. We finished the day at Floreana Island’s Post Office Barrel where we joined the tradition of leaving and/or taking a postcard for hand delivery upon our return home. A beautiful sunset ended the day.
Early in the morning on the first day of our expedition, we were greeted by a pod of dolphins on our way to Rabida Island. Located in the center of the archipelago, Rabida holds an incredible variety of wildlife, including flamingos, oyster catchers, Galapagos doves, lava lizards, and marine iguanas. After breakfast, we departed for our snorkeling outing. Playful Galapagos sea lions, whitetip reef sharks, and many species of fish joined us in the water. It was a wonderful morning! We spent the afternoon visiting Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. We disembarked on a beautiful black-sand beach, and just a few steps into our walk, we were surprised by a very healthy Galapagos land iguana. The bright yellow coloration of the iguana was hard to miss. We finished our walk exploring the stunning landscape of Puerto Egas as the guests took pictures in the scenic grottos found on site.
