Santiago Island
Today we had an early pre-breakfast option, a pleasant and interesting hike into the woods of Espumilla Beach, located on the northwestern side of Santiago Island. A soon as we landed on the island, we saw many sea turtle nests; it was pretty obvious that the females had laid their eggs on the previous night for the tracks were still very fresh. As we started walking up the scoria trail and into the amazing Palo Santo forest with some of the largest trees found in Galápagos, we started hearing the singing of many birds. Galápagos mockingbirds were very active, as we stopped to take a look at them we found a lovely pair of Galápagos flycatchers courting…for us it is not a surprise really. The warm rainy season is at its highest peak and the vegetation is abundant giving all the birds plenty of shelter and food. Animal species take advantage of the situation because their instinct tells them that probably in the near future when the situation changes and the draught years make an arrival they would have to stop mating and reproducing to make sure they save energy for better times.
Later on after breakfast we explored another area in Santiago Island, Buccaneers’ Cove. Kayakers had a blast under the impressive tuff cliffs and into the shallow caves of the area. Buccaneers’ Cove was a place used in the old times by whalers, pirates and buccaneers to anchor there to careen their ships for repairs. It was a spectacular kayak outing, the magic of the scenery and the stories and jokes told by the naturalists kept us wondering and laughing about what it took to make it in such an interesting environment. The snorkeling was an adventurous one as well for strong currents were present today. A lot of marine life was found including many colorful fish, black tipped reef sharks and even an eagle ray that with curiosity circled the snorkelers many times. Zodiac riders before lunch explored the rocky coast, spotting Brown pelicans, Noddy terns and Blue-footed boobies. What a wonderful and diverse morning we all had!
Puerto Egas in the afternoon welcomed us with many shore birds and marine iguanas all over the lava shores. At the grottos we found a few Galápagos fur seals, some were observed resting and some others were very active playing on shore. As the evening approached we returned to the ship, all of us filled with joy and satisfaction, once again feeling privileged to have been able to live the experience of being on this enchanted archipelago.
