Day 7 Bartolome and Sombrero Chino

Thursday April 4th-Bartolome and Sombrero Chino

Schedule for day:

6:00  Wake up call 

6:30  Disembark ship 

6:45-7:45 hike to summit of the island 359 ft

8:00-9:00 breakfast

9:30 glass bottom boat outing

12:30 lunch

2:00 National Geographic video

2:30 Charles Darwin Powerpoint Presentation

3:30 Deep water snorkeling

5:00 Zodiac ride

6:45 debriefing

7:30 Barbecue dinner  followed by star gazing 

Very few plant species can survive the drought conditions here.  This is a volcanic moonscape of rust colored "spatter cones", large pale cones and sooty lava flows.  The lava cactus thrives here as well as the candelabra cactus.  Very little animal life here however I did spot a couple of small lava lizards (lagartija de lava).

The glass bottom boat experience was awesome!  We took the Zodiac to the glass bottom boat in a small inlet.  We saw several species of fish including: Trumpetfish (Pez Trompeta), Blue Chin Parrotfish (Pez loro de barba azul), Panamic Sergeant Major (Sargento Mayor), Creole Fish (Pez gringo), Razor Surgeonfish (Pez chancho), King Angelfish (Pez Bandera), Burrito Grunt (Pez Zapatilla) and also a sea lion (lobo marino) that went directly under the boat.  First time guide had ever seen that!  Good experience since it familiarized myself more with the names to help prepare me for the next snorkeling experience.

At 3:30 we went deep water snorkeling again and for the first time I saw a Galapagos shark (Tiburon Galapagos).  A bit nervous but I did it.  We didn't see much different but it was a good experience.  

During the Zodiac ride at 5:00 I finally got to see some Galapagos penguins (Pinguino de las Galapagos) and we also saw 3 flamingos fly over the water in unison -que bueno!