One of the most iconic images of the Galapagos islands are the double bay beaches of Bartolome island, and overlooking Santiago island. In order to get to visit these uninhabited islands you need to get a day ferry from Santa Cruz island which takes about 3 hours each way. I booked my trip from home (to make sure I could do the day I wanted since I only had a very limited time in Galapagos) and booked with Book-ec, who helped me with many questions before I left for Ecuador and gave me a great price for a fantastic new boat with experienced captain and guides.
The boat ride was amazing, the whole way, the ocean is just perfect, and we saw mobula rays jumping out and doing backflips the whole way, plus frigate birds flying alongside the boat.
When we arrived at the island, we look a small zodiak boat to the landing area and hiked up to the viewpoint on Bartolome, and we were so lucky with the Weather, it was absolutley perfect!
The landscape was pretty dramatic, almost desert-like, with dray sandy volcanic soil. There were lots of rocks near the path, and our guide said, “go and pick one up”, I was thinking… pick up one of these massive rocks, really, but it was pumice! Which is an incredibly light form of valcanic rock, full of holes and very porous.
The viewpoint was just stunning, the water was so blue, and seeing Santiago island in the background, as far as you could see. Full of ancient volcanic cones. It was very cool, and I was so glad I took the tour here.
We saw lots of penguins in the waters here too, which is crazy considering they usually inhabit antartica and the South pole. I believe the penguins here are the most Northerly penguins in the world, and actually the only ones found North of the Equator, aptly named the “Galapagos penguin”, they are endemic to the islands, much like many of the other species here…
After the hike, we got back on the boat and circled back to “Chinese Hat Island”, named because of it’s triangula shape. We were given free time to go snorkelling in the water, one of the only places in the region where you are almost guaranteed to snorkel with penguins!
The water here was crystal clear, but unlike other places I have snorkelled in the world, there wasn’t much coral, it was mostly rocky, and resembled the kind of volcanic landscape there was on land. The fish here were also different species than I was used to seeing in South East Asia and the Mediterranean etc. And there were many big schools of fish, starfish, and of course, the pinguinos!!
After snorkelling, we returned to the boat for lunch and the journey back to Puerto Ayora. I also got my first glimpse of the infamous blue-footed boobies! Although they were quite far away, I was to find many more oppotunities for up-close encounters with them in the days to come…
It was an amazing day visiting these islands, and that evening, I went again to the little sushi place… being vegan in the Galapagos was the only thing I found difficult during the whole trip… but still, the food at the Japanese place was delicious, so it wasn’t so bad 🙂
Watch the video of this post here:
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