Our second week in the Galapagos, starting with San Cristobal again, Santa Fe and South Plaza

sunset off San Cristobal Island

Our changeover day, when we started our second week in the Galapagos and a new group joined us on the Majestic, was pretty quiet.  We started the day with a visit to the Interpretation Center, a very interesting small museum in the town of San Cristobal, documenting the geological, animal and human history of the Galapagos.  The center has an excellent set of trails leading to the top of the hill above town and down around the beaches occupied by numerous sea lions.  Well worth a visit if you go to the Galapagos. 

San Cristobal's tortoises

Later we drove across San Cristobal Island to another giant land tortoise sanctuary where we saw 3 more tortoises, always a thrill to see these huge creatures.  I preferred the sanctuary we visited on Santa Cruz Island because it was much more open and very easy to see and spend time quietly with the tortoises.

We also visited Santa Fe and South Plaza Islands, both very small.  Santa Fe has land iguanas that are found nowhere else in the Galapagos, large yellow reptiles with knobby skin.  It is a desert environment, with large cacti that provide shade to the iguanas, but not much food for the iguanas to eat, since they appear to be fairly finicky eaters (hard to imagine on a tiny islet that doesn’t offer much choice).  When their favorite plant dies back in the summer months, the iguanas sit under the cactus plants waiting for a cactus pear to fall off.  Then there is a mad scramble for the fruit by all the waiting iguanas.  Our guide tossed a small rock near the 4 or 5 iguanas under some nearby cacti and immediately they all swarmed towards the sound, only to be very disappointed.

South Plaza land iguana

young sea lion enjoying South Plaza beach

We snorkeled along the rocky coast of Santa Fe Island and found 3 enormous marine turtles about 50 yards off shore.  Usually they disappear quickly when they see the shadows of snorkelers above them, but these came up to the surface right next to us, one by one, to snag some oxygen before heading back to the ocean floor, which is shallow here.  I stayed with them just watching for about 15 minutes.  They moved easily with their front feet—big flippers—graceful giants amidst thousands of brightly-colored fish.  The turtles need oxygen fairly often when they’re eating or swimming, but can sleep on the bottom for up to 8 hours without an oxygen break.  They seem to shut down their respiration when they sleep, enabling them to get by with minimal oxygen.  So exciting to see them.  My big regret is that I didn’t bring an underwater camera with me. 

Santa Fe lava lizard

South Plaza Island is also very small.  Sea lions are everywhere, playing and sleeping.  We walked to the flat top of the island, to the cliffs high above the surf.  There were dozens of sea lions there, at least ¼ mile from the water and up a rocky slope.  They have to wriggle and flop their way up the rocks, but seem to like the result of all their effort.  South Plaza has its own iguana population, different from Santa Fe’s.  The walk is easy and very pleasant, with lots of sea birds, lizards, iguanas and sea lions to watch.  Off the cliffs, the shearwaters fly in clouds like swallows, only bigger, first into the cliffs and then back out over the waves, barely above the surface of the water.

Santa Fe cactus

 

Sante Fe--young swallow-tailed gull