Cerro Dragón & Sombrero Chino
What a great day we spent around these beautiful visitor sites. We started the morning with a hike on Cerro Dragón (Dragon Hill), located in the northwestern part of Santa Cruz Island. This peculiar name makes reference to colorful land iguanas that inhabit this place. We spotted several of these majestic reptiles during the walk. One of them, a big male, was spectacular for it was seen just few feet away from us in the middle of the trail! It was a great opportunity to photograph this endemic species at a close range. Later in the morning we went out for our first snorkeling outing of the day around Guy Fawkes Islets. In this area the highlight is a steep underwater wall that is home for a big array of colorful invertebrates.
In the afternoon after a LEX Forum on Conservation of Biodiversity, the National Geographic Polaris went around Bainbridge Islets. We observed briefly from our ship a group of Greater flamingos that live in a saline lagoon which is located just in the crater of one of these huge tuff cones. After this sighting some of us went out for our second snorkeling outing of the day, this time on the surroundings of Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat). Snorkeling was very successful for we observed not only many different species of fish but some snorkelers got the thrill to observe sharks, rays, eels and Galápagos penguins! Other guests opted to explore the area kayaking or taking a Zodiac ride. In the evening a delightful barbecue on the outside deck and salsa dancing lessons were a golden finale for a full day in our expedition on this ultimate paradise, the Galápagos Islands.
What a great day we spent around these beautiful visitor sites. We started the morning with a hike on Cerro Dragón (Dragon Hill), located in the northwestern part of Santa Cruz Island. This peculiar name makes reference to colorful land iguanas that inhabit this place. We spotted several of these majestic reptiles during the walk. One of them, a big male, was spectacular for it was seen just few feet away from us in the middle of the trail! It was a great opportunity to photograph this endemic species at a close range. Later in the morning we went out for our first snorkeling outing of the day around Guy Fawkes Islets. In this area the highlight is a steep underwater wall that is home for a big array of colorful invertebrates.
In the afternoon after a LEX Forum on Conservation of Biodiversity, the National Geographic Polaris went around Bainbridge Islets. We observed briefly from our ship a group of Greater flamingos that live in a saline lagoon which is located just in the crater of one of these huge tuff cones. After this sighting some of us went out for our second snorkeling outing of the day, this time on the surroundings of Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat). Snorkeling was very successful for we observed not only many different species of fish but some snorkelers got the thrill to observe sharks, rays, eels and Galápagos penguins! Other guests opted to explore the area kayaking or taking a Zodiac ride. In the evening a delightful barbecue on the outside deck and salsa dancing lessons were a golden finale for a full day in our expedition on this ultimate paradise, the Galápagos Islands.
