In the morning before breakfast we had an early excursion at Punta Cormorant. We landed on a beach with greenish sand, and we had the advantage of the first light of the day for great pictures. There were many flamingos feeding in the brackish water lagoon, and furthermore we were very fortunate to observe a few couples of blue-footed boobies nesting, as well as sally light foot crabs, and Floreana lava lizards. Afterwards we enjoyed a Zodiac ride around Champion Islet, and luckily we got to see the very elusive Floreana mockingbird, among other birds such as lava herons, swallow-tailed gulls, Nazca boobies and blue-footed boobies. In the afternoon we visited a historical site known as Post Office Bay; this is the oldest post office system in the Americas, and our guests had the opportunity to keep the tradition alive by dropping and collecting postcards to be hand delivered.
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!