February 2nd, 2006

BARTOLOME
With no sailing last night, it was quiet all night. However, we got here after dark and could not see the landscape until this morning. We were anchored between Bartolome and Santiago, both much younger islands than any we’ve visited so far, and thus much more dramatic. First thing after breakfast we took a panga ride along the rocky shore of the island to look for penguins. We saw 3 of them, though only briefly. They are shy little creatures. Then, around an impressive jut of rocks, we landed to walk to the peak of Bartolome. The island is sculpted out of lava flows and slightly worn ash rocks with two beaches below. The main volcano that formed this and Santiago is on Santiago, with smaller ones all around. From the top of Bartolome was a spectacular view.
After coming down the stairs again, we went to the beaches. We landed on one, then walked to the other one to see the sharks that swim there. At any one time you could see at least six in the shallow water, though never close enough to make you nervous about your ankles in the surf. Then back to the other side to snorkel at the shark-free beach. There were more fish here than any of the other places, including starfish, and I saw a barracuda (I think).

SANTIAGO – Puerto Egas
The next four hours were spent sailing around Santiago to the landing point at the black-sand beach of Puerto Egas. Along the way, we passed many dramatic landscapes where you could see where lava had flown or where the island had been pushed in a buckle through the water. Landing on the beach we were greeted by sea lions, and some snorkelers. Just above the beach there was a game of soccer being played by the crews of the boats there. Apparently two brothers had tried to make an industry on the island years ago – and now what’s left is a couple of buildings, some paths, and a soccer field. We walked mostly along the rocky shore of the island, which was beautiful in itself. The combination of the lava flows and the sculpting of the ocean was striking. We also found the cutest sea lion pup yet – John said she looked to be about a week old, and she had tucked herself into a little rock crevice. We decided we were going to pretend that her mother was out eating some of the 11 kg/day that mother sea lions eat, rather than possibly having abandoned the pup because some tourist had touched it and changed her smell. There were also fur seals on the island – not actually seals, but another type of sea lion. They were smaller, with shorter snouts and larger eyes and ears. Some people saw Galapagos hawks, which apparently have a lek behavior – many males and one female occupy a territory.
This evening was a very rocky 3 hour sail so that we can have another quiet night.