This morning we woke up anchored in Santiago Island, the third-largest island in the archipelago. We started our day with an optional early beach walk; some of our guests chose the photo walk, and others went on a nature walk. Afterwards, we came back on board and had a delicious breakfast, followed by several water activities, kayaking, paddleboarding, snorkeling and glass-bottom boat outings. At this time of the year, the cold Humboldt Current arrives to the islands, all the way in from Antarctica, bringing with it nutrients and life. Over time, this amazingly rich upwelling has afforded considerable varieties of marine life to the islands. Our guests have witnessed all the increased hunting and feeding activities of seabirds and the rest of the marine world. As a result, our snorkeling sessions have been great!
We came back on board to enjoy our great Mexican lunch. Later our naturalists oversaw the very popular activity known as “fashion the fish” with the Global Explorers, where the kids learned about the different adaptations of fish and had the chance to create their own. In the afternoon we visited Puerto Egas, an old salt mine were you can still see some of the leftover structures. We not only learned about the human history of the islands, but also about the different projects implemented to control the invasive species threatening its ecosystems.
We finished our day with a wonderful walk along the beach, taking great pictures, meeting the recently reintroduced land iguanas, the fur seals, and lots of shore birds. What a great day we had in Santiago!
