This morning we had an early walk to the summit of Bartolome Island. This landscape gives you the feeling that you are walking on a different planet; the barren terrain looks like the moon, or perhaps Mars. Very few plants can survive in this harsh environment, like the endemic tiquilia or the lava cactus. After breakfast, our guests enjoyed some time at the golden beach of Bartolome and later on, they went deep water snorkeling. The water was clear, and they saw many colorful fish, sea stars, rays and white-tipped reef sharks. In the afternoon the National Geographic Endeavour II navigated towards Sombrero Chino Islet. Our Captain Pablo Garces maneuvered to bring us close to the Bainbridge Islet and we got to see the brackish water lagoon and a good number of greater flamingos. The snorkeling at Sombrero Chino was awesome, it is like an aquarium full of fish, sharks, and Galapagos penguins that swim right up to us, it was spectacular. The Zodiac ride was a great opportunity to take great photos of the endemic Galapagos penguins.
10/3/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Bartholomew Island and Sombrero Chino
We split into groups for different excursions this morning. Four groups went up the staircase to the top for the iconic view over the isthmus of Bartholomew Island and Pinnacle Rock. We walked past exposed volcanic formations of all sorts: spatter cones, tuff cones, and lava tubes. Two other groups chose to explore along the coast by Zodiac in hopes of Galapagos penguin sightings. All of us were successful in what we hoped for and even the walkers saw penguins near the dock where we disembarked! Both snorkeling off the beach and deep-water outings along the backside of the island were tremendously productive because we saw it all: penguins and sharks being the top species, and diving blue-footed boobies too! The afternoon had National Geographic Endeavour II anchored not too far south, off the coast of Santiago Island near Sombrero Chino. A dramatically barren, small volcanic cone where another snorkeling outing was offered and late-afternoon Zodiac rides to search yet one more time for penguins. We can never get enough of them!