Santa Cruz (Dragon Hill) & Chinese Hat Islands
This morning we had an early wake up call for our first activity at Dragon Hill, where we have a chance to witness the great work carried on by the Galápagos National Park with the help of scientific advice provided by the Charles Darwin Station.
The population of land iguanas is healthy again, and they are breeding in the wild, like it was centuries ago, before any human impact. Everyone was happy to know about this success in this isolated place.
Later in the morning we went out for deep water snorkeling at Guy Fawkes, and some went out for a relaxing morning at a beautiful coralline beach. This snorkeling spot is without a doubt the best place to see nudibranch and spiny creatures (echinoderms) such as: sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, in addition to the amazing Galápagos underwater life.
Our ship, National Geographic Polaris, had to be repositioned for our afternoon activities, at a place with lava fields and cinder cones everywhere, with lots of Galápagos penguins along the shoreline.
Once inside the bay between Santiago and Chinese Hat Island, a few Zodiacs departed for snorkeling, and one went for kayaking, while another group decided to go to a small beach with a little sea lion colony. We even had a chance to go out again for one last activity, an exploration of the landscape.
We ended our day on the sky deck for a drink and to see how the sun was setting right behind Chinese Hat. With good memories, a BBQ dinner on the teak deck, and a slide show presentation from our expert photo staff, we said “Goodnight” and “’Til tomorrow, folks!”
This morning we had an early wake up call for our first activity at Dragon Hill, where we have a chance to witness the great work carried on by the Galápagos National Park with the help of scientific advice provided by the Charles Darwin Station.
The population of land iguanas is healthy again, and they are breeding in the wild, like it was centuries ago, before any human impact. Everyone was happy to know about this success in this isolated place.
Later in the morning we went out for deep water snorkeling at Guy Fawkes, and some went out for a relaxing morning at a beautiful coralline beach. This snorkeling spot is without a doubt the best place to see nudibranch and spiny creatures (echinoderms) such as: sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, in addition to the amazing Galápagos underwater life.
Our ship, National Geographic Polaris, had to be repositioned for our afternoon activities, at a place with lava fields and cinder cones everywhere, with lots of Galápagos penguins along the shoreline.
Once inside the bay between Santiago and Chinese Hat Island, a few Zodiacs departed for snorkeling, and one went for kayaking, while another group decided to go to a small beach with a little sea lion colony. We even had a chance to go out again for one last activity, an exploration of the landscape.
We ended our day on the sky deck for a drink and to see how the sun was setting right behind Chinese Hat. With good memories, a BBQ dinner on the teak deck, and a slide show presentation from our expert photo staff, we said “Goodnight” and “’Til tomorrow, folks!”
