Galapagos Islands Part 2

Continued from the previous post….
We landed on Santa Cruz on the second day of our Galapagos tour. A large island with a variety of geology, wildlife and vegetation, all of the Galapagos life zones are present on Santa Cruz. We proceeded to a saltwater lagoon where many pink flamingos were quietly minding their own business as we trekked past them.
We also saw many land iguanas on our way up to Dragon Hill. Santa Cruz is a nesting site for these reintroduced land iguanas. 

Land Iguana and me

 For the avid bird-watcher, Santa Cruz also offers the opportunity to spot the various types of finches, doves, mockingbirds etc.

Finch

Mocking Bird

Galapagos Dove

In the afternoon, we cruised to Floreana, also known as Cormorant Point. This island features endemic plants such as Scalesia villosa, Galapagos daises, to name a few. The most memorable activity on this island was snorkeling with the sealions. We were snorkeling a few meters off the beach and a family of playful sealions decided to check us out. It was a surreal moment as a sea lion stopped right in front of me for a few seconds, seemingly inviting me to swim along with him.

Making friends

Swimming with the sealions

I was remarking to myself that the day could not have been any better when a school of Galapagos sharks gathered around our boat at night. Attracted by the lights on the boat, these sharks circled both sides of our boat. The waters were so clear, the sharks so near the surface of the water that you could make out the features of the sharks quite easily.

Galapagos sharks

On the third day of our Galapagos tour, we went to Espanola. Espanola is the oldest and the southernmost island in the Galapagos chain. Wildlife is the highlight of Espanola and the star of the show is the waved albatross. The island's steep cliffs serve as the perfect runways for these large birds which take off for their ocean feeding grounds near the mainland of Ecuador.

Albatross

A large colony of marine iguanas, lava lizards, and sally light foot crabs greeted us as we trekked around the island.

Marine Iguanas

Sally light foot crabs

In the afternoon, we proceed to San Cristobal to learn more about the Galapagos National Park’s breeding problem with giant tortoises. The fifth largest of the Galapagos Islands in terms of size, Isla San Cristobal has the second largest human settlement of this volcanic island chain.

Galapagos National Park

Galapagos Tortoise

I ended my short cruise of the Galapagos on day 4. We were snorkeling at Carrion Point before returning to the airport for our flight out of the Galapagos. Snorkeling at Carrion Point was probably the only downside of the entire trip. I have snorkeled in various places of the world and Carrion Point was disappointing. Not only did I not see much marine life, I was bitten by sea lices even though I had taken the precaution to wear a long sleeve rash dive shirt. Then again, you can never outsmart wildlife – the fishes may all be there on one day and gone the next. I did not let this dampen my entire experience though.

The entire Galapagos trip was the most wondrous experience. To be so close to nature was a great privilege. It was awe-inspiring and gave me a renewed appreciation of the wonders we have in this world.

This is a vacation I would recommend to everyone.

Your Travel Beacon,
Cindy