South Plaza and Santa Fe Islands, 7/11/2024, National Geographic Islander II
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander II
Galápagos
Today, we visited two small and fascinating islands: South Plaza Island, located near the northern part of Santa Cruz and Santa Fe Island to the east. These islands are inhabited by two different species of iguanas, the Galapagos land iguana and the Santa Fe land iguana. Additionally, each island grows a different species of prickly pear cacti, characterized by features specific to their individual habitats.
Aside from this, we observed several sea birds and a few colonies of the iconic Galapagos sea lion.
Javier grew up on Santa Cruz island where his grandparents first arrived in the 1940´s. Veritable pioneers, his grandparents settled in the highlands where they found a place to raise their children.
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The last day of our expedition brought us to the northern island of Genovesa. At Darwin Bay, we enjoyed observing a good number of juvenile red-footed boobies practicing their flying abilities. What a sight! Our kayaks were deployed for one last time, two rounds of kayaking were offered in the calm area of the sunken caldera. Snorkeling along the high cliffs of Genovesa was the complement to a great morning, where many colorful tropical fishes were seen. Genovesa Island holds the largest colony of red-footed boobies on Earth, among Nazca boobies, great frigatebirds, red-billed tropicbirds, and the short-eared owl, which has taken over the position of the top predator and now is hunting during daytime. A wonderful sunset ended a spectacular day in paradise!
The morning was very warm with calm seas; we went out early to explore the shoreline on kayaks in search of penguins. Some of our guests enjoyed some stretching on the beach where some sea lions were playing. After breakfast, we did water activities. The snorkeling was spectacular, for our guests spotted sharks, manta rays, and other marine life around the turquoise bay of Chinese Hat Islet. The glass-bottom boaters also enjoyed the journey. In the afternoon, we moved to Sullivan Bay on Santiago Island. We walked on a pahoehoe lava field to learn about the geology of Galapagos. The lava is a magical natural museum in front of our eyes. While riding in the Zodiacs on our way back to the ship, we found a flock of penguins and some blue-footed boobies; those sightings were the frosting on the cake for an astonishing day exploring the Galapagos Islands.
This morning, we woke up, grabbed our expedition gear, and embarked on our Zodiacs to go explore Plazas Islet. This place is home to a large colony of sea lions, plenty of land iguanas, marine iguanas, and also nesting swallow-tailed gulls. The islet is covered with the Galapagos carpet weed, which turns red during the dry season, and gives the islet a very exotic touch. We came back on time for a delicious breakfast, and later, we took some of our most adventurous guests to explore the area by Zodiac. During the afternoon, water activities took place on Santa Fe Island, and snorkeling with sea lions was such an incredible sighting for our guests. Later in the afternoon, we disembarked to a large colony of sea lions on the beach, put on our good walking shoes, and went to explore the rest of the trail, where pale land iguanas, mockingbirds, and other species could be observed and photographed. The highlight of the afternoon was for sure a couple of Galapagos hawks that were flying in the area. What a great day!