Bartolome & Santiago Islands
Galápagos is an archipelago formed by thirteen main islands, six smaller ones and well over 100 islets and rocks, scattered over 430 kilometers of open ocean.
This place has attracted many visitors since the fifteen hundreds, when they were found by a Spanish ship that accidentally came across this location; then pirates, buccaneers and many eccentric people were the ones that arrived later to take advantage in one way or another of this new paradise.
Among the famous people that reached this archipelago is Charles Darwin, a young naturalist that only spent five weeks in Galápagos and made great observations on the unique flora and fauna. Later on (twenty-five years later) a very controversial book, the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was published, making the whole pre-established concept of the society change dramatically.
Today, after spending a gorgeous time at Bartolomé Island, we repositioned the ship off the shores of Puerto Egas, Santiago Island. Coincidentally, this place happens to be the very island where Darwin spent 9 days during his journey on board the HMS Beagle.
Along the rugged coastline, we saw piles of marine iguanas taking advantage of the warm sun. Lots of shore birds and the ever present sea lions also took advantage of the tide and were spotted either resting or foraging.
As the sun was setting down, it was time to come back to our home, the National Geographic Islander.
