Our journey continued as we arrived at North Seymour Island, an uplifted volcanic island in the center of the Galapagos archipelago. North Seymour has an abundance of life with frigatebirds, blue-footed boobies, and Galapagos land iguanas. Inland, frigatebirds displayed for potential mates. They showed off their impressive inflated gular sac while shaking their wings and making a guttural clicking noise. It was quite a show. Blue-footed boobies are starting nests right now, and one showed us the three eggs being incubated. Land iguanas foraged on fresh vegetation, indifferent to us as we passed. Upon returning to National Geographic Endeavour II, a feeding frenzy began as blue-footed boobies, Galapagos sharks, sardines, brown noddy terns, and Galapagos shearwaters took part in the feast. After an incredible morning, we started our afternoon on Rabida Island, a dark red island that shows off its volcanic past. A snorkel along the coast brought us in contact with Pacific green sea turtles, Galapagos sea lions, and an array of reef fish. As the sun dipped below the horizon, we took a short walk to a brackish pond to enjoy American flamingos on full display. What a great finish to our first full day in the archipelago.
3/27/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Santiago Island
We are having fun exploring the Galapagos Islands. Today we arrived at the center of the archipelago to explore two magical visitor sites, Buccaneer Cove and Puerto Egas. Early in the morning we explored the shoreline in our Zodiacs and we saw many marine turtles mating and blue-footed boobies diving or resting on the rocks. We also saw frigates, pelicans, terns, and more. After breakfast some of our guests went kayaking for a closer encounter with nature. The snorkeling was also spectacular. We saw three different types of sharks, including a hammerhead. We found a school of eagle rays, a wide variety of multicolor reef fish, and a zebra moray. In the afternoon we explored the coastal line of Puerto Egas. This destination is full of wildlife and along our walk we saw red neck lava lizards, finches, land iguanas, mockingbirds, and hawks. At the intertidal zone we found sea lions, and many migratory birds such as plovers, whimbrels, and ruddy turnstones. We had an amazing day!