Bartolomé and Rábida Islands
In the early hours of the day we arrived at Bartolomé Island in the central realm of Galápagos. Once we dropped anchor we headed to the shore before breakfast to climb to the highest part of the island; there we had the most famous view of the islands, the one that has been published on most of the books about Galápagos. For us, it is also a great opportunity to learn about the geology of the archipelago and about the arrival and establishment of the species of plants and animals in Galápagos.
We returned to the ship for a well-deserved breakfast, and after we had everybody outfitted with snorkeling gear we headed to the shore again; this time we snorkeled from a golden-colored, sandy beach and went around the famous Pinnacle Rock to look at the marine life of the area. Some were greeted by different species of fish, and even a Galápagos penguin was observed as it was swimming by.
We left this colorful place and headed towards Rábida Island which has a striking bright red beach; some of our guests went kayaking while others went deep water snorkeling or to the beach. We had calm, warm, and clear waters so our experience here was unique. As we all came back on board, we changed and went for a walk; there we saw blue-footed boobies flying and fishing; we saw some plunge diving from great heights and getting into deep waters like arrows. Along the cliffs there were also brown pelicans and some flew very close above our heads.
At the end of the afternoon we returned to our ship and had a wonderful sunset that filled the sky with incredible red, blue, and orange colors. A great way to say goodbye to our first full day on the islands.
