We woke up early in the morning to explore San Cristobal Island. We started out on a beautiful sandy beach at Punta Pitt. This place offers a magnificent walk where we gain altitude, and the view gets progressively more scenic as we ascend. At the very top, we can stand near a cliff where red-footed boobies nest, and take advantage of the dynamic lift of the wind bouncing against the volcanic walls. This place is ideal for action photography of birds in flight. We had countless opportunities to make beautiful images of the birds flying over a colorful background of greens, reds, and blacks. The green and mostly red vegetation that grows on the black volcanic rock created a surreal feeling to our photos.
After a wonderful Ecuadorian lunch, and a presentation by our National Geographic photographer, we headed towards a scenic rock called Leon Dormido. This islet with a sharp rock pinnacle is an amazing place to practice deep water snorkeling. Here we took snorkeling to a different level, since the main attraction of the place is sharks!
As we plunged into the water, we could see a few sea turtles gliding through the ocean currents. Floating through a channel between the rocks, we patiently waited, until finally the first silhouettes of fusiform predators appeared underneath us. First one or two, and then groups of maybe a dozen each, navigated without minding our presence. Galapagos sharks and black-tipped sharks are common in this waters, since being part of the Galapagos marine park means the populations of some of the most important creatures of the seas are still healthy.
To end the day, the National Geographic Endeavour cruised towards the sunset near the majestic rocks of Leon Dormido. What a grand ending for our expedition through the Galapagos Islands!
