Santa Cruz and North Seymour Islands
We started our day off with an early wake-up call and a hike to search for the dragons of Cerro Dragon, the land iguanas. These huge lizards begin their activity as soon the sunrises and heats up the land in the Galápagos Archipelago. We hiked through a dry forest of barren palo santo trees, and then suddenly we found the first land iguana behind the grasses. It was a large male of a beautiful yellowish color. We continued to hike and found several other iguanas. Everyone agreed that getting up early to take the walk had been well worth our while.
Cruising to North Seymour, we passed near the tuff cone of Daphne Major. Our Naturalists told us about research on finches that has been going on here for the past 30 years. We anchored off North Seymour, our final destination for today. A group of adventurous deep water snorkelers braved the chop and current and had a fantastic outing. Then we disembarked on this small island which is so very full of life. We found courting blue footed boobies, flying and nesting magnificent frigates, and a rocky landscape with the sparkling blue waves breaking along the shore. The afternoon was spectacular. The sun set and painted the sky behind Daphne, ending this lovely day. We are already looking ahead to tomorrow’s adventures.
We started our day off with an early wake-up call and a hike to search for the dragons of Cerro Dragon, the land iguanas. These huge lizards begin their activity as soon the sunrises and heats up the land in the Galápagos Archipelago. We hiked through a dry forest of barren palo santo trees, and then suddenly we found the first land iguana behind the grasses. It was a large male of a beautiful yellowish color. We continued to hike and found several other iguanas. Everyone agreed that getting up early to take the walk had been well worth our while.
Cruising to North Seymour, we passed near the tuff cone of Daphne Major. Our Naturalists told us about research on finches that has been going on here for the past 30 years. We anchored off North Seymour, our final destination for today. A group of adventurous deep water snorkelers braved the chop and current and had a fantastic outing. Then we disembarked on this small island which is so very full of life. We found courting blue footed boobies, flying and nesting magnificent frigates, and a rocky landscape with the sparkling blue waves breaking along the shore. The afternoon was spectacular. The sun set and painted the sky behind Daphne, ending this lovely day. We are already looking ahead to tomorrow’s adventures.
