April 29 – Isla Santiago

The morning consisted of a hike at Puerto Egas across a relatively recent lava flow (~100 years old) now eroding into the sea. The layers of volcanic ash looked almost sedimentary and the sea action had produced interesting formations.

Lava lizards

On the trail up from the beach, we saw both male and female lava lizards (♂ red underbelly, ♀ striated brown & black) about 6" long.

Galapgos fur seal

We looped around to a broad area where lava meets the sea and saw where the sea breaks through lava tubes forming grottoes. The Galapagos fur seals (actually another species of sea lions) appeared to enjoy frolicking in these beautiful blue-green inlets playing with the waves.

Mom & pup fur seals

The absolute treat of the entire hike were the mom and pup fur seals!  Biti guessed the pup was only a few hours old since we found a bloody pool and a strand of umbilical cord nearby. Mom was trying to introduce the pup to the sea while the pup was really not interested in getting into the water. The pup cried like any baby being pushed into the world.

Marine iguanas

This was also our first up-close encounter with the Galapagos marine iguana. These are the only known iguana that swim, though we mostly saw them hauled out on the lava. They are known to sneeze out salt crystals that form in their nasal passages.

Judi at lava tide pools

The eroding lava on the beach formed interesting formations - one that looked like "E.T." and another that seemed like a chimp face. We saw a pencil urchin shell in a tide pool and later many purple urchin spines in the sand. Also in the tide pools were various fish and we saw striated herons fishing on shore.


The heat of a clear day at the equator made the snorkeling very inviting. We saw lots of schools of small & silvery fish. Eventually, we saw two large white-tip reef sharks on the bottom and, closer in to shore, a ray which buried itself in the sand as the fish bothered it. We found a lava arch under water and Martin had a swim through it!


We saw pelicans and marine iguanas on the rocks and avoided the only shade on the beach as Biti warned us of the "poison apple" tree whose sap and fruit are caustic. 

Beagle under sail

After lunch, two large sails were hoisted and we sailed most of the afternoon. It is hard to get a picture of the sails when your are on the boat!

We had a "Crossing the Line" celebration with appetizers and drinks as we crossed the equator during the day after two middle of night crossings earlier.

After dark, Larry began to spot bio-luminescence in our wake and soon we were all seeing patches off in the sea as well. Martin was keeping track on his GPS unit when we re-crossed the equator after rounding the north end of Isla Isabela - all cheered.