Galapagos
Bartolome and Santa Cruz
April 13, 2024
The first activity was very early, a 6:15 am departure for “a relatively fast–pasted hike to the top of Bartolome Island,” a climb of about 375 feet.
The island is quite young in geographic terms and exhibits many volcanic features, including several craters, and a fantastic view of Pinnacle Rock. In the Zodiac ride to the island, we saw Galapagos penguins, blue footed boobies, our first marine iguana and several other creatures. The walk to the top was challenging, but made easier by boardwalks with steps (380 we were told). At the top, we were witnesses to a marriage proposal (on bended knee) by a passenger from the ship. She was stunned, and it was a very sweet moment to be a part of, one I’m sure they will remember for the rest of their lives.
Our ship anchored off Bartolome Island.
Below is the walkway to the viewpoint at top.
We saw Galapagos penguins on the way to the island, our only time on the trip. They are smaller than we expected, the second smallest species, and quite endangered, a population of only 1,800 or so. We also saw our first blue-footed booby, an iconic species of the islands and always fun.
Unique plant life on Bartolome Island.
Below is a view of volcanic features.
View from the top.
We would snorkel on that beach a bit later.
View of the walkway on the way down.
Another group going up.
There were many colorful crabs everywhere,
this seen on the return to the zodiac.
We also saw our first marine iguana, pictured on the index page.
We returned to the ship for breakfast. Shortly after, we snorkeled off of Bartolome Beach. We saw many colorful fish including parrotfish, burrito grunt and blue and gold snapper, plus a couple reef sharks.
View of snorkel beach from Zodiac.
Fish we saw (taken by a naturalist).
We returned to the ship for lunch and a photography lesson. We went back out in the afternoon for our second hike of the day on Santa Cruz Island at a landing site called Cerro Dragon. We walked along a beach to a lagoon populated by wading birds and marine iguanas, and then walked through a forest to the lush green habitat of the colorful Galapagos land iguana. We saw at least a dozen of these unique reptiles, including many colored brightly orange. We saw other birds, and when we finished the walk, saw many marine iguanas that had come out with the cooling temperature, as well as some sea lions. Here are some photos from this walk, which was less challenging than the morning hike.
Our second dry landing today. There would be no more until the end of the trip.
Marine iguana. We saw them swimming here and other places.
Photos below show the landscape from this walk.
We saw numerous Galapagos Land Iguanas on our walk, some blocking our path, some molting, like this guy, and some quite colorful. They are amazing creatures,
and frequently look to be smiling!
We headed back to the ship around sunset, and before dinner had naturalist presentations about Galapagos finches and sea birds. Here are two photos taken on our departure from Cerro Dragon.
Below is a photo of the ship’s routing for our trip, excluding our last stop at Santa Cruz Island. We photographed this from one of the evening presentations by the naturalists.
Our first day of activities was chock full, perhaps the most vigorous day. Every day was about 12 hours, sunrise to sunset, to coincide with the opening hours of the national park. We did have rest periods throughout the day, thankfully. Tomorrow we will visit another island that will provide some of the highlights of the trip, Floreana.
