Our expedition continued today with an early walk on Espumilla Beach. This remote and paradisiacal location has wonderful attractions like a long sea turtle nesting beach, a thick mangrove forest, a shallow lagoon and a fabulous view from the top of the little hill that crowns the trail filled with a mature forest. Darwin finches can be seen and heard everywhere. We offered two options on this outing, a long natural history walk or a shorter photography specific walk.
After this visit, the National Geographic Islander was repositioned to Buccaneer Cove. After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning snorkeling and kayaking. Both activities were successful. Snorkelers spotted many colorful tropical fish, reef sharks, several rays and some Galapagos sea lions. Kayakers explored the rocky coast with the company of impressive tuff cliffs and into the shallow caves of the area.
After lunch naturalist Walter Perez gave a talk about Charles Darwin. Immediately after, in the late afternoon, we disembarked at Puerto Egas. We had a couple of options: a long and peaceful walk along the coast line or spending the whole afternoon swimming, snorkeling and/or relaxing at the black landing beach. A very brief tropical drizzle rain accompanied us at the beginning of these activities reminding us that it is the wet/warm season in Galapagos. After a while the rain quickly calmed down and the place came alive. The sun made a brief appearance, providing a spectacular soft and warm light that was perfect for photography.
The walk in Puerto Egas follows a path near the ocean that is full of unique lava shores and crevices. Shore birds and Galapagos fur seals were highlights among the amazing and diverse wildlife to see. Lively colored Sally light foot crabs were seen against the dark black lava as well. Marine iguanas and Galapagos sea lions were seen here and there.
A juvenile Galapagos Hawk became one of the main attractions of the day. This top predator was seen without a care, perching in peace on top of a lava formation. It was a delight to observe and photograph this creature at such close range.
Reluctantly we all came back on board, beach goers and walkers. Santiago Island was at its best today, giving us an exciting combination of wilderness, various weather conditions, amazing landscapes and great encounters with the fascinating Galapagos wildlife.
