One of the islands adopted by Lindblad Expeditions and Charles Darwin’s favorite place during his visit to the Galapagos in 1835, Santiago is an amazing place. Lindblad decided to adopt this island to support the National Park’s efforts to save and conserve the endemic species considered endangered at the time.
We visited three sites during our expedition. Early in the morning, we disembarked on a pristine beach where sea turtles nest throughout the year. We often observe the serene creatures returning from sea or basking on the shore. Today we had the opportunity to see them copulating, and we observed a female returning to the sea. What amazing sights!
National Geographic Endeavour moved to Buccaneer Cove during breakfast for our second outing. Snorkeling, kayaking, and tours in the glass-bottom boat were great opportunities for our guests to enjoy wildlife.
Back on-board National Geographic Endeavour in the early afternoon, invited guest Dr. Sylvia Earl talked to us about conservation and the importance of life in the ocean. How fantastic it is to share this amazing place with such an inspirational person.
Our last outing of the day took us to a beautiful black sand beach where guests took a quick dip in the water and enjoyed observing sea turtles and sea lions while snorkeling. Our afternoon hike involved a walk along compacted ash, or a tuff trail. We spotted various land birds. Along the shoreline, we appreciated diverse fauna and the geology of this fantastic, middle-age volcano. We observed marine iguanas, sea lions, shore birds, finches, doves, mockingbirds, and Galapagos fur sea lions.
