On the last day of this magical expedition onboard the National Geographic Islander, we visited the capital island of the Galapagos archipelago, San Cristobal Island. Although San Cristobal is inhabited by roughly 8,000 people, we seemed to be visiting a pristine island no one had ever visited before, and this is the beauty of the Galapagos Islands.
For our morning adventure, some guests went for an exciting hike along the cliffs of Punta Pitt in search of red- and blue-footed boobies, while others took Zodiac rides along the coast of San Cristobal in search of the third booby species, the Nazca booby. Both expeditions were successful, with many sightings all three types of boobies flying, nesting, and feeding.
Punta Pitt is also home to a small colony of sea lions that played with us on the beach. There were more sea lion encounters in the afternoon at Cerro Brujo, a beautiful white-sand beach with crystal clear water, where we encountered sea lions nursing, sleeping, and resting. These are the moments that make time stop and have you wondering what the world would be like if animals and humans interacted the way they did here in the Galapagos!
