Today our guests experienced Santiago Island. This is the Island that Darwin explored the most when he visited the Galapagos back in 1835. Darwin, together with some crew of the Beagle, camped on the island of Santiago for a week. While on the island, Darwin studied Galapagos marine and land iguanas, collected finches, mockingbirds, insects and plants. Most of the species that Darwin collected were unique to the islands. It was during this time on Santiago Island that Darwin noticed the Galapagos wildlife was strangely unafraid of humans.
5/11/2025
Read
National Geographic Endeavour II
Española Island
We started our expedition by visiting one of the oldest islands of the archipelago and quite a fantastic one. We explored the beach in the morning and the inside of the island in the afternoon. Our first outing was a snorkel exploration of a small islet located on Gardner Bay, where we observed sharks, sea lions, sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, and many colorful fish! The temperature of the water, great visibility, and an abundance of life made for an outstanding first deep-water snorkel. We also walked and swam on a beautiful white sand beach next to the big colony of sea lions that live here. In the afternoon, we hiked on Suárez Point. This is the only site in the archipelago where we can find the very famous waved albatross. We walked a rocky trail and spotted marine iguanas and lava lizards with nearly every step before reaching the nesting grounds of Nazca boobies and the albatrosses. These wonderful and magnificent marine birds nested and displayed for their mates. We observed the beauty of these animals as we enjoyed the sunset. It was a spectacular first full day.
