Galapagos, Bartholome Island

Day Two Monday October 4

Up early for breakfast and morning activities. We were anchored by the volcano known as Chinese Hat. We did a wet landing and went for a walk along the beach. We saw sea lions, marine iguanas, sally-lightfoot crabs and some birds. Then back on board to suit up for snorkeling. I took a wet suit, in case the water was cold. Snorkeling was good, except my snorkel leaked, with lots of fish. There is little coral as the islands are mostly volcanic rock. The best thing was I saw a marine iguana swimming and feeding underwater! Saw a black tipped reef shark as well.

After that we had lunch. Food is good, fresh and healthy with lots of veggies and fruit. After lunch we went to Bartholome Island to the famous beach. The sand is gold coloured and gorgeous. Some of us snorkeled again, this time along the shore and around the pinnacle point. There were lots of caverns and channels in the rock to swim through. Had a great snorkel this time. Saw lots of fish, some in large schools. When the four of us got around the point we saw a couple of Galapagos penguins resting on the shore.

After returning to the boat, we got ready for a hike up a volcano. The climb consisted of 600 stairs along a wooden path with several resting places to admire the view. From the summit we could see the two beaches that are back to back and the pinnacle that rises straight out of the sea, absolutely beautiful.

Back on board for dinner and some down time. It’s great to just hang out and talk with the others. Steve is quite the character and most of the rest of the group are all experienced world travelers with lots of stories to share.

Then we sailed through some rough seas for most of the evening, but luckily stopped and anchored about nine, which made for a calmer sleep, with less rolling around. Steve, Valerie, a few others and I sat in the bar and enjoyed a beer, the sunset and conversation before we all turned in early.