Our expedition continues aboard the National Geographic Endeavour. Santiago, one of the big Islands in the Galapagos archipelago, was our visiting site today.
Our day started with an early hike at sunrise, a perfect time for photographers and nature walkers to admire the landscape. We explored Espumilla beach, a beautiful mangrove ecosystem that lies along a red sandy beach. Walking in to the dense vegetation made us feel like pioneer explorers, who came to this area centuries ago, looking for giant tortoise and fresh water. Even Charles Darwin spent nine days hiking and collecting species, according to his own writings, as he was left by the HMS Beagle to study the flora and fauna of this area.
After breakfast we repositioned the National Geographic Endeavour, to our next stop of the day—Buccaneer’s Cove. At this site our expedition leader organized several activities, including deep water snorkeling trips, kayaking and glass-bottom boating. Our guests were amazed with the excellent conditions—it was a perfect day for snorkeling. Our explorers found large schools of fish, white-tipped reef sharks, diamond rays, and many sea lions. Exploring along the shoreline with the kayaks was also quite an adventure, as there was a great diversity of sea birds.
In the afternoon, most of our guests wanted to do it all, so went to the beach to practice snorkeling. After the aquatic activities, it was time for a nature hike that took us along the shoreline of Egas Port; it was great to explore the coastal ecosystem in the intertidal zone. One of the most unexpected moments in the hike was an encounter with a big lava field full of Galápagos fur seals. Walking along the coastline also gave us the chance to find several shore bird species, marine iguanas, and Sally Lightfoot crabs, among others.
It was another incredible day in the Galapagos, and more discoveries await us tomorrow!
