Blogs from Santiago Island, Galápagos, Ecuador, South America

Buccaneer Cove was a great place to wake up. A very full day yesterday resulted in a surprisingly decent sleep, despite apparently quite stormy conditions during the night. Panga cruise alongside the cliffs to see yet more seabirds, then more snorkelling, (see a pattern emerging here?) but this time in a sea cave. Massive shoals of fish but little not previously seen. Other folk saw white tipped reef sharks and 6' Lang Ray's, but I missed them this time. We sailed further north east for several hours, to tiny Rabida Island, before mooring in a sheltered bay for the afternoon's hike on Island. There were fantastic views, among lava rock and giant cactii. Beautiful pink flamingos on a green lagoon overlooking the unique red sandy beach, with Pelicans and Blue footed Boobies diving for fish in ... read more

The yacht stopped for sightseeing at two spots on Santiago Island during the day - Egas Port on the west coast and Sullivan Bay in the southeast. Caroline and Max again saw black sandy beaches, uneven areas of volcanic rock, and various wildlife on land and in the water. We stayed on board the yacht to rest through the sabbath day until sundown. We relaxed and read, and chatted to any other passengers who were around. In truth we did not feel we were missing much Galapagos viewing. We had come to feel that while the islands certainly hosted some unique evolutionary creatures and plants, there was in fact little bio-diversity here. The extreme saltiness of the environment caused nature to breed species which could survive here but not very many different ones. After visiting ... read more

Today's activities included visits to Santiago (San Salvador, James) Island at Puerto Egas and then on to the much-anticipated visit to the Natural Habitat Adventures leased private "campsite" on Santa Cruz (Indefatigable) Island. At Puerto Egas we got our first close looks at the Galápagos fur seals. Despite the name, these are actually sea lions. Their fur is thicker than that of the Galápagos sea lions, and thus was more valuable as a pelt to sell. Extensive hunting nearly exterminated these animals in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Their numbers rebounded once hunting was halted, but declined again following the severe El Niño of 1982-1983. This species is more vulnerable to climate variations due to the longer time the mother cares for the pups. The pups are largely dependent on the mother's milk for 18 ... read more

We needed to be up early again, but were excited at the prospect of getting off the boat and having a bit more activity. Following breakfast we grabbed our gear, which included three cameras as well as all a full complement of snorkeling gear and wetsuits provided by the cruise. We were split into groups of 16 and took a short Zodiac ride to the island of Santiago where we dropped our snorkeling gear on the beach and then headed out for a walk. We followed a trail along the beach of black volcanic sand, led by one of the naturalists from the ship. Along the way we saw more and more of the Galapagos wildlife. Starting with Lava Lizards, we soon saw the ubiquitous Sally Lightfoot crabs that seem to cover every shoreline like a ... read more