Bartolomé and Santiago Islands
A cloudy morning was waiting for us on our pre-breakfast hike. We headed towards the summit of Bartolomé Island, 360 feet high and three times that wide, although this didn’t matter. Soon the groups made it and took in the breathtaking view. After a while, breakfast was calling from below.
Later, we had the opportunity to swim and explore in our glass-bottom-boat at leisure in an already sunny morning. Then, as lunch came in, wild sales took place in our small but plentiful boutique. Most folks sacrificed their siestas to dwell into the soon empty baskets. Our National Geographic Polaris logo will disappear in few months and everybody wanted to have some unforgettable souvenirs (even the guides…). (The ship is being replaced by National Geographic Endeavour in May.)
Santiago is the largest island, after Isabela and Santa Cruz (we both visited in the past days) so we had an extended hike to the famous salt mine. The mine has been empty since 1965 and is a place where today you can enjoy fantastic coastal hiking. The rest of our guests, out on Zodiacs, were stopped by an incredible feeding frenzy of killer whales, so some never made it on time for the regular hike. The mother and the baby whale seemed to be feeding on a recent kill while a super big male was overseeing the scene. Overall, we had a really exciting afternoon!
A cloudy morning was waiting for us on our pre-breakfast hike. We headed towards the summit of Bartolomé Island, 360 feet high and three times that wide, although this didn’t matter. Soon the groups made it and took in the breathtaking view. After a while, breakfast was calling from below.
Later, we had the opportunity to swim and explore in our glass-bottom-boat at leisure in an already sunny morning. Then, as lunch came in, wild sales took place in our small but plentiful boutique. Most folks sacrificed their siestas to dwell into the soon empty baskets. Our National Geographic Polaris logo will disappear in few months and everybody wanted to have some unforgettable souvenirs (even the guides…). (The ship is being replaced by National Geographic Endeavour in May.)
Santiago is the largest island, after Isabela and Santa Cruz (we both visited in the past days) so we had an extended hike to the famous salt mine. The mine has been empty since 1965 and is a place where today you can enjoy fantastic coastal hiking. The rest of our guests, out on Zodiacs, were stopped by an incredible feeding frenzy of killer whales, so some never made it on time for the regular hike. The mother and the baby whale seemed to be feeding on a recent kill while a super big male was overseeing the scene. Overall, we had a really exciting afternoon!
