Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
We started our last full day in the Galápagos Islands with an optional pre-breakfast early morning walk to climb up to the summit of Bartolomé volcano. A wooden stairway of almost four hundred steps took us to the top of this very eroded volcano. Showing very pristine and naked rock formations, Bartolomé is the delight of geologists and rock lovers. Some little lizards and grasshoppers came along with us here and there.
The morning was a little overcast, but we had perfect weather for this walk. Our naturalists gave us excellent debriefs on the geological features of the area, plus the importance of the natural arrival, establishment and adaptation of plants like tiquilia, escalecia and chamacise.
Once on board and after a well-deserved breakfast, we started to get ready again, this time to wet land at the nearby beach. A beautiful golden area with clear waters in the seventies welcomed us and we spent the morning snorkeling with colorful fish, a couple of sharks and the gracious Galápagos penguins. Playful sea lions joined us to play and became the highlight of the morning.
The glass bottom boat is another of our tools for people that want to know more about the marine life of the islands. With a naturalist on board this very useful device, the captive audience is comfortably observing fish, sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and more, and learning about names and lives of the sea creatures.
During the afternoon visit to Santiago Island at Puerto Egas, our guides taught us about the efforts that several groups of people have made in the past, before this was declared a protected island, to establish here. Nobody was succesful and the whole island is dedicated to the conservation of its wonderful wildlife.
The highlights for the afternoon was snorkeling from the black mineral beach in translucent clear waters and enjoying for the last time the underwater attractions of the archipelago. Walkers also had a great time walking along the shores of Puerto Egas among big marine iguanas, shore birds and peeping into the tidal pools looking for baby fish and sea lions bathing.
So long and hasta la vista friends!
