We started our day with the captain maneuvering the ship so that we could see into the center of a small island that had a brackish pond. On the pond were several pink flamingos and some flamingo babies. We stopped the engines and drifted by so that we could catch a view from the top deck of the ship. We then continued on to an island called Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat) were anchored for this mornings activities.
After breakfast, we had the option to go on a final snorkeling adventure or to take a Zodiac ride to find wildlife. Dan & Becky went snorkeling and Sue, Kim, Deb & Charles went on the Zodiac. While snorkeling, they saw whitetip reef shark, a blacktip shark, Galapagos penguins swimming in water, Galapagos sea lions swimming in water, two types of spotted eagle rays, diamond stingray, star fish, blue trim parrotfish, Galapagos damselfish, lava heron, and millions of other fish.
The crew on the zodiac saw little blue heron, blue-footed boobies, Galapagos hawk, sea lions and more. Both options were fantastic and were able to see many animals.
After lunch, we rode the zodiac over to Santa Cruz Island for a hike. When Sue and Dan were last here in 2021, the hike mainly followed the waterfront. Today we also hiked to the interior and climbed to the top of Dragon Hill where we had great views. This hike is known for having lots of iguanas and it didn’t disappoint, they were out in force. Galapagos marine iguanas have a flat tail for swimming and Galapagos land iguanas have round tail. We saw a couple American flamingos (600 total in Galapagos), hermit crab scampering to water, Galapagos flycatcher, least sandpiper, and a smooth-billed Ani bird.
Reboarding the ship, we pulled anchor and headed back to Baltra Island where we anchored and will disembark to catch our flight back to Quito in the morning. Frigatebirds were in constant attendance. We had our final dinner on board and reflected on our trip and all the things we saw.
As we were heading back to our rooms to pack, we noticed that the lights on our ship were attracting fish which in turn attracted brown pelicans and Galapagos sharks. There were at least seven 6-foot sharks circling the boat, an amazing site. It was an awesome way to end our trip!
Sharks around the ship
Sombrero Chino
Snorkel and Zodiac Ride
Dragon Hill Hike
Back to Baltra
