Early in the morning, almost at sunrise we disembarked at Espumilla Beach, Santiago Island. A soft-sand beach was waiting as we walked along the coast, finding a Galapagos hawk resting on a branch of a tree. We also got our fill of blue-footed boobies and pelicans fishing. But the adventures of the morning just started.

At Buccaneer Cove, we had a great time snorkeling and kayaking among sea lions, spotted eagle rays, and sharks. In the afternoon, we went to a dark sand beach at Puerto Egas to enjoy some free time swimming and snorkeling. Later we took in the tide pool area, looking for shorebirds, Galapagos sea lions, marine iguanas, and fur seals resting in their lava grottos formations. During our way back to National Geographic Endeavour II, we found a Galapagos land iguana, warming up its body before going into its burrow for the night.