Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Friday, June 6

On Friday, the whole group (Niels, Jamey, Jodi, Jessica, and me) took a day trip to Bartolome for some hiking and snorkeling. The hike up to the top of the volcano was easy and it provided some remarkable views. We then went snorkeling for a little over an hour. The snorkeling here was fantastic. We got to swim right up to penguins, sea lions, and white tipped reef sharks.

Friday night was my last with my travel companions and really the last time I would see them here in South America since I schedule another dive that was leaving early Saturday morning. The last month or so was great...in large part to the company of Jodi and Jessica. Its going to be strange not traveling with them...even if I only have about 2 weeks left. They are heading to Buenos Aires and then they are off to tackly Africa on June 16th. Good luck Legal Nomads!!


Thursday, June 5

Niels and I met up with our dive group at 6:30am and headed to the far side of the island where we would get on our dive boat. We had a 2 hour boat trip to reach the first dive site, Cousins. Cousins is a small, rocky island just off the coast of Isla San Salvador and is supposed to be great site for lots of fish and sea horses. We did see tons of fish, white tipped reef sharks, and some sea turtles, but had no luck with the sea horses. And, unfortunately, Niels ran into some problems and was unable to make the dive. The first dive lasted about an hour at a depth of 20m. After returning to the boat, we had a snack and snorkeled around a bit before moving to our next dive site off Isla Bartolome. Our second dive of the day was nice. There was tons of fish and I spotted a few moray eels. We also got to see eagle rays, sea turtles, and more white tipped reef sharks. I think I also saw a 6 or 7 foot Galapagos shark just before heading up for my safety stop. The highlight of the dive, though, was a quick spotting of a hammerhead shark.



Wednesday, June 4

We spent the majority of Wednesday at Bahia Tortuga. The bay is about a 40 minute walk from town and when we arrived, we stepped onto a pristine white beach that was being pounded by waves. We walked to the far end of the beach where mangroves lined the water and where several iguanas were hanging out. We then made our way to a smaller beach that was in an area completely protected from the surf. I spent the day walking around the area and doing a little bit of snorkeling. After returning to Puerto Ayora, Niels and I booked a dive trip for the following day. We will be heading to Cousins and Bartolome, which is supposed to be one of the best dive sites that can be done in the area.