South Plaza is a very small volcanic uplift along the coast of Santa Cruz Island. This morning we enjoyed a great hike on South Plaza. A dry landing in a tiny jetty,built by the Galapagos National Park Service, helped us to enter this magical place. I love this little island, which offers a great wildlife observation experience and what is more a delight for the eyes! The landscape is just breathtaking! The colors combine themselves in such artistic way, the big prickly pear cactus with green and its bark brown, the surrounding rocks and the carpet weed in its red color, matches perfectly with the turquoise color waters of the channel that divides South Plaza from North Plaza, and the great deep blue color of the ocean in the back ground. As soon as we landed we were greeted by playful Galapagos sea lions. Very close to the landing site, there were a good number of Galapagos land iguana, several females were sharing the place with a big male land iguana surrounded by big and old prickly pear cacti, which is their maind food supply throughout the year. We walked a short distance towards the cliffs, where we spotted Galapagos shearwaters, red billed tropic birds, frigate birds, and swallow tailed gulls. It is just amazing to be part of nature and come to the animals so close!
We went back on board the National Geographic Islander and another activity was offered: swimming off the ship. It was lot of fun jumping into the water from a small platform located at the first deck and very refreshing at the same time. The weather has been fantastic and today was not the exception. A cool breeze kept the temperature agreeable while the sun went through the clouds warming the day and providing with great light for the captions. The National Geographic Islander navigated towards Santa Fe island for new discoveries. There was a Kayak and a deep water snorkeling option. Our guests came back very happy, kayaking is not only a good exercise but as well a great opportunity to observe in detail the rugged volcanic coastline of Santa Fe with its high cliffs and hundreds of huge prickly pear cacti. The snorkeling site is very good indeed, the underwater world of the Galapagos Archipelago is unique and diverse, from colorful to silvery fish, rays and sea lions! This day but came to an end with a nice hike along the coastal line, disembarking first at a white sandy beach that today was covered by sea lions, at least we saw one hundred! Males, females, pups were resting, we can watch them for hours! We continued our walk towards the rocky cliffs, where we encountered the unique Santa Fe land iguanas; this creatures are normally very shy and we never know how close we will see them, however this afternoon they were all around the cliffs, males, females, even together! One female land iguana decided to walk through the group, steping on several guests shoes. It was just incredible, when we found the top predator of the Archipelago resting on the monument which reminds all the tourists the following: “the fauna and flora of the Galapagos Islands is strictly protected by law” and for sure by the hawk. What a day, and still the question arises: can it be better tomorrow after all we have seen? And I can only smile, yes it will be better, because you are in heaven.
