Today the National Geographic Endeavour II anchored at Espumilla Bay, and our early risers began preparing at sunrise for the pre-breakfast activities, which included kayaking and hiking along the shoreline of James Island. After breakfast we repositioned to Buccaneer’s Cove, which would be our snorkel site of the morning. We also offered the glass-bottom boat and another round of kayaking. After an incredible snorkeling excursion with plenty of colorful fish and a coastal exploration aboard our kayaks, we return to the National Geographic Endeavour II for lunch while our captain repositioned the ship to the afternoon visitor’s site, Puerto Egas at South James Bay. Here, our guests had the opportunity to snorkel off the beach or take hikes along the intertidal zone.
10/3/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Bartholomew Island and Sombrero Chino
We split into groups for different excursions this morning. Four groups went up the staircase to the top for the iconic view over the isthmus of Bartholomew Island and Pinnacle Rock. We walked past exposed volcanic formations of all sorts: spatter cones, tuff cones, and lava tubes. Two other groups chose to explore along the coast by Zodiac in hopes of Galapagos penguin sightings. All of us were successful in what we hoped for and even the walkers saw penguins near the dock where we disembarked! Both snorkeling off the beach and deep-water outings along the backside of the island were tremendously productive because we saw it all: penguins and sharks being the top species, and diving blue-footed boobies too! The afternoon had National Geographic Endeavour II anchored not too far south, off the coast of Santiago Island near Sombrero Chino. A dramatically barren, small volcanic cone where another snorkeling outing was offered and late-afternoon Zodiac rides to search yet one more time for penguins. We can never get enough of them!