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Published: August 21st 2007
What bliss - curled up with a book in the sunshine on deck - this is how we dreamed it would be. Heaven. A shout from the upper deck had us all rushing to the side to see a dolphin riding the prow wave. Leaping and diving, it kept weaving from side to side just in front of the boat.
Barolome must be the most photographed island in the Galapagos - and with good reason. We arrived in the early afternoon and anchored in the bay close to the needle like Pinnacle Rock. Binoculars came out, and we were delighted to see a couple of Galapagos penguins on shore.
Having landed we then made the ascent via a short climb, then 300 steps over the stark lava landscape, covered with lava flows, craters and cinder cones, to the summit to be met by a magnificent panorama. Lots of photograph stops, then back down to snorkel and swim in the bay. We all set off to see the friendly penguins, and eventually I surfaced right by them - honking across the rocks to each other. After that I struck out across the bay to the base of Pinnacle Rock, but
being in shaqde it was freezing, so I swam back across some fascinating underwater rock formations to emerge back on the beach and warm up.
Back in the panga, we went for a short cruise right round the Pinnacle Rock to see a small colony of the penguins with their young who live there - then back to the boat to warm up in a hot shower. The force of the power showers was impressive, and we always seemed to be lucky in our cabin, as the below decks people usually ended up with cold ones. It seemed the height of luxury to land back on boat, straight to your cabin, peel off the wet suit, then instantly heat up in the shower, then go down for lovely freshly cooked nibbles and a hot drink.
After dinner we set sail for Santa Fe, which we would visit he next day, along with San Cristabel Island.
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Galapagos
