The Galapagos diversity doesn’t stop surprising us. We started on South Plazas, where we had a close encounter with one of the endemic Galapagos land iguanas, interacting with several marine iguanas. Such interaction has resulted in various hybrid iguanas, which we also spotted. This tiny but flourishing island also offered a spectacular view of tropical birds and swallowed-tail gulls nesting and flying along a picturesque cliff. Once on board, we learnt about the process of arrival and establishment of species to the Galapagos with a wonderful lecture of one our naturalist, Silvia Vargas.
Once delighted with a magnificent Peruvian and Ecuadorian lunch prepared by our professional cooking team aboard the National Geographic Endeavour, we found ourselves on Santa Fe Island. Here, we started our afternoon activities with an exciting snorkel. Although there were waves, the underwater experience was rewarding as we enjoyed swimming with three different species of rays, including a sting ray, a spotted-eagle ray and a group of diamond rays, accompanied by sea turtles and plenty of colorful reef fishes.
Our afternoon ended with an incredible trek along the inspiring trail of Santa Fe. Here, two fantastic species unique to this island appeared. Along the first part of the walk, we saw more than ten Santa Fe land iguanas (Conolophus pallidus), which confirmed to us the success of the conservation efforts done by the Galapagos National Park to eradicate introduced species in this island. While we were capturing the best angles of this wonderful pale land iguana, we saw a gracious Santa Fe rice rat (Aegialomys bauri) climbing a chala tree (croton scouleri). We were conquered by the beauty and tenderness of such a tame and curious creature. With these two encounters of species which are unique to this island, we remembered that we are in a unique group of islands where life and diversity doesn’t stop surprising us. A place where each day, you can contemplate so many unique species in their natural habitat is for sure a place which will remain in our memories.
