After been surrounded by towering volcanoes, whales, and penguins for a couple of days in the western jewelry of the Galapagos Island, the National Geographic Endeavor was anchored this morning at San Salvador Island, which was a popular refuge for pirates and buccaneers during the 17th century, as well as a place to replenish food and water supply.
Our morning outing took place at Espumilla beach. The golden beach was heavily used the previous night by sea turtles, and the tracks left behind lead us to several turtles’ nests. From the beach we also saw a few of this endangered reptiles mating, while a flock of blue-footed boobies were plunging diving near shore. The bizarre beach was a perfect place for our explorers to enjoy an easy walk, and to delight in the flora and fauna of the place. The mangrove forest along the beach provided us with a unique experience interacting with juvenile Galapagos hawks, warblers, finches and mockingbirds. The mangrove roots made for an excellent subject to help us to test our creativity in photography. After spending two hours in this fairylike place, we headed back to the ship to get ready for the next activity.
Buccaneer’s Cove, with its dramatic landscape, was the perfect scenario to practice kayaking. Kayakers encountered shore birds as well as sea lions along the stunning shoreline. At the same time, other guests enjoyed the magical underwater realm on a snorkeling excursion. Their exploration of the crystalline water rewarded them with a mosaic of colorful fish, rays, and white tipped sharks.
In the afternoon, after dropping anchor at James’ Bay, our guests landed on a black sand beach where Charles Darwin was in 1835. Many of us enjoyed the calm beach while other went for a walk. The low tide helped us to appreciate the intertidal zone with marine iguanas grazing on the green algae. The tide pools trapped some fish which striated herons took advantage. Many migratory birds such as sand pipers, sanderlings, wandering taglers and ruddy turnstones were also spotted during this leisurely walk. All day long, our timing was outstanding, and we ended the day by enjoying the sunset while we watched fur seals heading to the west for their nocturnal fishing activities.
