Bartolome and Santiago Islands

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Today we took a day boat trip to Bartolome and Santiago Islands, which are a two hour boat ride northwest of Baltra Island. There are several islands that are accessible by day trip, each unique in their own right by terrain and which species of bird or animal you wish to see. I decided on Bartolome Island because it is home to a very small and elusive colony of penguin, which originated in Antarctica, but long ago rode the Humboldt current to the islands, and they are the closest penguins you can see without traveling to the South Pole.

Our boat was a 40ft. beautiful fishing yacht that we shared with our National Park guide Felipe, 4 college age Argentinians Dennis befriended, a Swiss guy, and 3 locals. We were given a delicious breakfast on the boat as we began our trip.

Upon arrival we took a tender to the landing of Bartolome Island. The island appears Mars like in its complete stark and volcanic landscape. We began a long hike up to the summit, stopping along the way as our guide explained the formation of the islands along with short lessons in plate tectonics and geology. At the summit the views were incredible of the picturesque Sullivan Bay separating Bartolome and Santiago Islands. Felipe pointed out some areas on Santiago Island that were destroyed during practice air raids by American bombers during WWII, one of many surprising and little known facts we have come to find during our trip.

After our hike we took to the bay for a few hours of snorkeling. Within seconds of being in the water I saw a sea turtle and frantically tugged at Dennis’s arm to show him before it disappeared. Dennis was relieved that my excitement was not about seeing a shark, which he has an obsession about. We did end up seeing two white tip sharks while snorkeling, both just hovering around the periphery of the edge of your visibility, as sharks love to do. As far as visibility of the water, I was expecting poor conditions after reading that the waters are hardly Caribbean quality, but was pleasantly surprised in the 60 ft. we did have. There were numerous tropical fish in some of the largest schools I have ever seen, such as a school of fifty Angelfish. As we were about to leave the water we saw an Eagle ray gliding beneath us.

I hung close to the rock of the island in hopes of spotting a penguin, which proved successful. We found a solitary small penguin swimming through the water. I lost sight of him for a bit, but was able to find him drying himself on a rock later. He was just as adorable as I had hoped, and posed for several pictures for us.

We were given a large lunch before setting off back to Santa Cruz. We all slept most of the way back, sunburned and exhausted from such an incredible day in the South Pacific.

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Comments

[Jennifer]

Trip to Bartolome Island
Hi! Your trip sounds amazing! My boyfriend and I are travelling to the Galapagos late March this year and we are really interested in visiting Bartolome Island - mainly for the chance to see penguins! Do you happen to remember the name of the company you got the trip with and how much it cost? Thanks a mill!! Jen

[Desertdwellers]

Sorry no I don't remember what company we used, but we just booked from a local office that we happened to be walking by on the street. It seems that you get the best deals but just waiting until you are there and just shopping around the local shops. Have a great trip!