Walter Perez, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
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Daily Expedition
Reports
13 Feb 2020
Plazas Island and Santa Fe, 2/13/2020, National Geographic Islander
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander
Galápagos
Our exploration of the Galapagos islands has led us to Plazas Islet today. We had the opportunity to see our first conolophis cristatus land Iguanasm, and they were all over the place eating opuntia cactus! Others were seen fighting for a bite. Later in the afternoon we visited Santa Fe Island for some kayaking in the beautiful bay surrounded by marine turtles and rays. We then hiked along a trail and spotted our second species of land iguana, the conolophus palidus.
Back on board the activities continued with recaps, and naturalist shared new information about the Galapagos Islands. There is a lot to learn aboard National Geographic Islander!
Ixora was born in the Galapagos Islands, back when the streets were made of sand and gravel. Void of TV and tablets, her childhood friends and pristine natural surroundings made for an inspiring upbringing. She was always drawn to the ocean and her l...
Walter was born in a very small town on the mainland of Ecuador. His first trip to the Galápagos was when he was 12 years old, visiting friends and aunt, who had moved to the islands. From the first moment he saw the Islands, he fell in love with the...
We woke up anchored inside a caldera filled with seawater. We visited two destinations where about a million seabirds live and breed. We also snorkeled and kayaked inside the caldera, the only opportunity of its kind in the Galapagos. We celebrated as we crossed the equatorial line from south to north. Sunset declared the day was over, painting the sky yellow and red. We declared it an extraordinary day of expedition.
Today we started the day with a pre-breakfast activity on Sombrero Chino. We had options to enjoy a photo walk on the island, a sunrise yoga class, or kayaking. Then we headed to the ship to have breakfast and get ready for a Zodiac ride to look for Galapagos penguins along the channel between Sombrero Chino and Santiago. After this, we prepared for snorkeling and swimming with sea lions, sharks, colorful fish, and Galapagos penguins. During the afternoon, we visited Sullivan Bay. We did a lava walk and spotted some pioneer plants. We took many fun pictures of the pahoehoe lava shapes. To end this amazing day, we enjoyed a barbecue dinner as we navigated across the equatorial line.
It’s our first full day in the Galapagos Islands, and we visited Plazas Islet first thing after breakfast. In this place, we encountered countless sea lions sleeping under the equatorial sun, and swallow-tailed gulls resting during the day. The highlight of this island is its population of land iguanas. As we walked farther along the trail, we spotted a land iguana feeding on prickly pear cactus. This is the main source of food during the dry season, and the island is really dry right now. What a great sighting, as this is something we do not get to see every day. We kept walking and arrived at the bachelors’ sea lion colony, where single males were resting. Blue-footed boobies and other seabirds flew above our heads. In the afternoon, we moved the ship to Santa Fe Island, where plenty of playful sea lions were waiting for us to get in the water. Kayaking was offered today, and guests enjoyed paddling alongside sea turtles, rays, and sea lions, of course! Our late afternoon walk took us into the island’s dry forest. The largest prickly pear cactus in the Galapagos can be observed here, along with the island’s unique species of land iguana, the pale iguana. Iguanas and sea lions are plentiful on this unique island, in addition to curious Galapagos doves and an endemic rat. At the end of the walk, the sea lions were there to wave goodbye as we boarded our Zodiacs to go back to National Geographic Islander II .
