Bartholomew and Santa Cruz Islands, 3/15/2025, National Geographic Islander II
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander II
Galápagos
With a very relaxing morning at Bartholomew, our day began. We enjoyed our first snorkeling session of the week. We had a lovely time with penguins and whitetip reef sharks.
In the afternoon we had the chance to head over to Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island where we found several land iguanas and a few blue-footed boobies on the way.
Bernardo, known by his friends and family as Bernie, was born In the Andean city of Quito, located in the highlands of Ecuador. His grandfather, however, moved to the Galapagos Islands in the mid-70s, and worked as one of the first Naturalist Guides,...
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Today we went to Floreana Island, starting with a visit to the very famous Post Office Bay. Here we had the chance to deliver postcards through one of the oldest mailing systems in the Americas. Later on, we rode our Zodiacs to explore the small islet of Champion, where marine birds and sea lions display on the shore. We also snorkeled in this same area, and had close encounters with the playful sea lions. In the afternoon we hiked at Cormorant Point, an old tuff cone with a greenish sandy beach at its base surrounded by black mangroves. We explored the area looking for wildlife and enjoyed the presence and color of the greater American flamingos. On the other side of this visitor site there is a beautiful white sand beach, which is also a sea turtle nesting site. We enjoyed the last rays of today’s sun at this magical location.
We woke up early today to climb to the summit of Bartolome Island. Once you get to the top the view is breathtaking; the scenery is so dramatic and full of volcanic formations, it looks like the moon or Mars. Along the shoreline we found many Galapagos penguins fishing in the water and basking on the black rocky lava. Later on the beach, we had a lot of fun swimming, snorkeling, and strolling along the shore. In the afternoon we moved to the northern part of Santa Cruz Island to visit Cerro Brujo. This place usually belongs to the arid zone of the island, but this year it’s raining all over the archipelago, producing an important quantity of food for terrestrial animals. The area was so lush; birds such as finches and mockingbirds were very happy about the food supply, and the magical land iguanas were also well fed. Our intrepid guests enjoyed the magic of Galapagos, throughout their first full day exploring this amazing archipelago.
Today we visited the youngest part of the archipelago, to the west. Early in the morning, we circumnavigated a beautiful geological formation known as Roca Redonda, where thousands of marine birds nest. Then we navigated along the shoreline of Isabela Island; we admired the beauty of the landscapes, with the fog that is characteristic of this time of year hiding Ecuador Volcano behind it. At Punta Vicente Roca, we explored the bay with our Zodiacs and searched for wildlife. We found charismatic sea lions, marine iguanas, sea turtles, and the famous flightless cormorants. In the afternoon we hiked on the youngest island of the archipelago, Fernandina, where thousands of marine iguanas basked under the sun and light rain in big groups. Some of us went on a Zodiac exploration in search of penguins, and we succeeded in finding them in the late afternoon. We ended the day with an al fresco barbecue dinner and local music on board!
