Santa Cruz Island
Today we visited Cerro Dragon and its surroundings. This visitor’s site is located on the northwestern part of Santa Cruz Island. This day was filled with a big array of activities that satisfied the most demanding expectations of our guests this week. In the morning we went to Venice islets, a paradisiacal place with beautiful mangrove areas and breathtaking sceneries. One of the most popular activities was kayaking along the many small lagoons and channels that are abundant in this place. Zodiac rides gave us many opportunities to observe many wildlife species at a very close range. Blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans, herons, iguanas, sharks and turtles together with the calm blue waters and black lava flows provoked in our minds unforgettable memories.
During the afternoon we visited Cerro Dragon which is Spanish for dragons’ hill. This peculiar name makes reference to colorful land iguanas that inhabit this place. We landed on a lava flow and walked inland. The vegetation looks extremely dry which is normal at this time of year, as we are at the end of the dry season. In the next weeks it will start raining and the islands will look completely different, they will look green and lush. During our walk we found a few male land iguanas close to the trail. This afternoon, the sun was shining and it was a little hot. During the walk we also observed prickly pear cacti with recently open blossoms. The yellow flowers are very stunning. While we were taking pictures we were very lucky to see some carpenter bees (Xilocopa darwini) landing on the flowers, getting nectar and transporting pollen to other plants. The Galápagos carpenter bee is one of the main pollinators of the flowers in the Galápagos Islands. It was a pleasant and unusual chance to observe up close small little creatures that play a very important role within the islands’ ecosystem.
Today we visited Cerro Dragon and its surroundings. This visitor’s site is located on the northwestern part of Santa Cruz Island. This day was filled with a big array of activities that satisfied the most demanding expectations of our guests this week. In the morning we went to Venice islets, a paradisiacal place with beautiful mangrove areas and breathtaking sceneries. One of the most popular activities was kayaking along the many small lagoons and channels that are abundant in this place. Zodiac rides gave us many opportunities to observe many wildlife species at a very close range. Blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans, herons, iguanas, sharks and turtles together with the calm blue waters and black lava flows provoked in our minds unforgettable memories.
During the afternoon we visited Cerro Dragon which is Spanish for dragons’ hill. This peculiar name makes reference to colorful land iguanas that inhabit this place. We landed on a lava flow and walked inland. The vegetation looks extremely dry which is normal at this time of year, as we are at the end of the dry season. In the next weeks it will start raining and the islands will look completely different, they will look green and lush. During our walk we found a few male land iguanas close to the trail. This afternoon, the sun was shining and it was a little hot. During the walk we also observed prickly pear cacti with recently open blossoms. The yellow flowers are very stunning. While we were taking pictures we were very lucky to see some carpenter bees (Xilocopa darwini) landing on the flowers, getting nectar and transporting pollen to other plants. The Galápagos carpenter bee is one of the main pollinators of the flowers in the Galápagos Islands. It was a pleasant and unusual chance to observe up close small little creatures that play a very important role within the islands’ ecosystem.
