Santa Cruz & Sombrero Chino Islands
We woke up early in the morning for a walk before breakfast in the northern part of Santa Cruz Island at a site called Dragon Hill. The rising sun showed us an island with diverse vivid multicolored landscapes where the predominant vegetation was the giant prickly pear cacti and the holy tree forest. Here, a couple of land iguanas were seen feeding.
Later in the morning, after an appetizing breakfast, our guests were offered to partake in deep water snorkeling, a Zodiac ride or beach time. All of these activities were done with superior weather and pleasant water temperatures; actually the warmest of the week!
After a morning full of emotions and wildlife, we headed to Sombrero Chino (“Chinese Hat”) Islet located off the eastern corner of Santiago Island. This is an islet with a volcanic shape that forms a narrow channel together with the island of Santiago. This area provides good shelter and makes for a perfect place for sea activities like kayaking and deep water snorkeling.
The highlight for the deep water snorkelers were encountering several big whitetip reef sharks, a great diversity of small fish, spotted eagle rays, marine iguanas feeding underwater and Galápagos penguins.
The geology and geographic conditions of these two islands are very special among all the other ones we have visited so far. They support a large variety of life that is able to thrive in a desert environment. It is a prime example of how the first living organisms, with the ocean currents and winds, arrived in the Galápagos and were able to adapt in this wonderful paradise.
We woke up early in the morning for a walk before breakfast in the northern part of Santa Cruz Island at a site called Dragon Hill. The rising sun showed us an island with diverse vivid multicolored landscapes where the predominant vegetation was the giant prickly pear cacti and the holy tree forest. Here, a couple of land iguanas were seen feeding.
Later in the morning, after an appetizing breakfast, our guests were offered to partake in deep water snorkeling, a Zodiac ride or beach time. All of these activities were done with superior weather and pleasant water temperatures; actually the warmest of the week!
After a morning full of emotions and wildlife, we headed to Sombrero Chino (“Chinese Hat”) Islet located off the eastern corner of Santiago Island. This is an islet with a volcanic shape that forms a narrow channel together with the island of Santiago. This area provides good shelter and makes for a perfect place for sea activities like kayaking and deep water snorkeling.
The highlight for the deep water snorkelers were encountering several big whitetip reef sharks, a great diversity of small fish, spotted eagle rays, marine iguanas feeding underwater and Galápagos penguins.
The geology and geographic conditions of these two islands are very special among all the other ones we have visited so far. They support a large variety of life that is able to thrive in a desert environment. It is a prime example of how the first living organisms, with the ocean currents and winds, arrived in the Galápagos and were able to adapt in this wonderful paradise.
