South Plaza Island and Santa Fe Island, 4/21/2022, National Geographic Islander
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander
Galápagos
The small island of South Plaza is unique. In such a small territory, we found a big population of Galapagos land iguanas. As we walked along the trail, we observed them sunbathing and eating cactus pads, their favorite food. It was amazing to find not only iguanas, but also populations of different seabirds, like swallow-tailed gulls, red-billed tropicbirds, and the Galapagos shearwaters that nest mainly along the cliffs of this small island.
Plaza has an amazing landscape with cliffs, the blue ocean surrounding the island, and red Sesuvium. The succulent plant turns a red color in the dry season, and it really looks like a carpet.
A colony of Galapagos sea lions with lots of puppies played close to the shore, and it was really fun to observe them.
In the afternoon, National Geographic Islander sailed to Santa Fe Island. The island is home of the Santa Fe land iguana, Canalophus pallidus. These iguanas have a pale yellow coloration and are bigger than the Galapagos land iguana. The rocky trail presented a dense forest of Opuntia cactus, a favorite food of the land iguana, and it led us to a beach crowded with sea lions.
Sunset on the island was the best way to end a great day.
María, who goes by her middle name Paulina, was born and raised far from the sea in the Andean city of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. She came to the Galápagos Archipelago for the first time on holiday when she was nine years old, and was smitten. Sh...
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We woke up to super calm waters off the northern coastline of Floreana Island. Perfect conditions for a bit of kayaking among the offshore islets near Post Office Bay! Brown pelicans, egrets, green sea turtles, and red, black, and white mangroves…a peaceful environment for an hour or so before breakfast. Some guests went straight to the beach to walk a few yards through saltbushes and found themselves facing the famous “barrel” of Post Office Bay. It’s been over a century since the barrel was first placed here for use by whalers to exchange correspondence and carry back letters of business, or perhaps letters to loved ones. Today, postcards fill the barrel, but the turnover is fast. Each day, some of the postcards are taken for delivery while others are left behind in hopes that someone will continue the tradition and hand-deliver them in the weeks to come. Between breakfast and lunch, we played in or on the water around Champion Islet, just to the northeast of Floreana Island. We didn’t make a landing but explored by Zodiac, including a birdwatching circumnavigation followed by deep-water snorkeling in incredible waters with parrotfish, angelfish, pufferfish, damselfish…all kinds of fish! Sea lions buzzed by, desperate to draw attention and get a reaction out of us, which they did. Squeals and shrieks were heard. After an instructional briefing on iPhone photography and a presentation on Charles Darwin in the afternoon, we went ashore on the main island of Floreana. There has been quite a drought this year and not much rain the previous year either. The land was dry, the vegetation was brittle, and dead leaves were everywhere. But all that is fine for the native and endemic species; after all, they’ve been through this before, over the millennia, and survived. The stress is on the introduced species who depend on higher amounts of freshwater for survival. While their defenses are down and populations are stressed, now is the time to really push for programs to eradicate introduced species. Floreana Island is ready for restoration. The National Park and collaborating NGOs are preparing Floreana to receive native species that were once thought doomed for extinction. Giant tortoises, Floreana mockingbirds, and racer snakes may yet survive and prosper with the help of these organizations. We spent the afternoon following an easy trail from a dark-colored beach of mineral origin and over the isthmus to a white, organic beach where green sea turtles were riding the breakers offshore. The turtles are not quite ready to come ashore and lay eggs, as temperatures are still too low for another month or so. But a great blue heron and frigatebird were checking out the scene, just in case someone tried for an early nesting. It will be a couple months before hatchlings try to race to the ocean in the dark of night. We returned to our base of operations as the sun set low on the horizon. National Geographic Islander II was waiting for us with hot water and the comforts of home.
In the early morning, National Geographic Islander II visited Bartolome Island, one of the most iconic places in the Galapagos Islands. We made it all the way to the top to get panoramic pictures of the pinnacle view. Then we headed back to the ship for breakfast and to get ready for the beach, where we planned to practice with our snorkeling gear for the first time. Afterwards, some of our guests enjoyed deep-water snorkeling, and others took tours in the glass-bottom boat. During the afternoon, we visited Cerro Dragon on Santa Cruz Island to look for land iguanas, and we found them posing for us on the trail. It was an amazing day aboard National Geographic Islander II !
