Bartolome and Sombrero Chino
Early morning found us at Bartolomé (Bartholomew), a lovely volcanic islet just off the east coast of Santiago Island, the fourth largest of the Galapagos Islands. This tiny but spectacular island, shows a fascinating volcanic moonscape of rust-colored "spatter cones" with large, pale tuff cones and sooty lava flows. Time and erosion have created incredible textures and designs in the soft volcanic ash. In this ashy terrain, few plant species can withstand the drought conditions, and therefore not many species of plants or animals are found here, only some pioneer plants such as the endemic tiquilia nesiotica and the always present and unconcerned lava lizards.
The view from the summit of this island, 359 ft/120 m high, was worth every breath, as we needed to go over 376 steep wooden steps to reach the top!
Once everybody recovered from the heart pumping early hike, breakfast was ready on the ship and then we were ready for the next morning activities, swimming and snorkeling from a golden beach or exploring the underwater world through the glass bottom boat. Marble rays, white tipped reef sharks, sea lions, hundreds of fish and colorful sea stars were everywhere.
Once aboard, we sailed along the southeast coast of Santiago until we anchored close to Sombrero Chino and the Bainbridge Islets. The parasitic cones of Santiago Island are interesting small volcanoes, probably formed when the sea level was lower. In 1997, the Island of Santiago, was adopted by Lindblad Expeditions, who created a special fund (the Lindblad Expeditions - National Geographic Fund for Galapagos) through which we were able to support a major and successful eradication effort to eliminate feral goats and pigs from the island.
Some guests spent the afternoon snorkeling and Zodiac riding in the channel that separates Sombrero Chino from the South of Santiago, while other guests had the chance to enjoy a tiny, but beautiful, white coral sand beach.
Marble rays, eagle rays, white tipped reef sharks, tropical fish, marine iguanas eating algae underwater and some penguins swimming around made our afternoon snorkel the best of the week, and for some guests, the best ever!
This was just another day in this landscape born of fire, home to unique species that show no fear to humans.
