Cruise Day 2: Bartolome & Sullivan Bay

Cruising around Galapagos isn’t a holiday.  We had to wake at 0545 for a 0615 breakfast before a 0645 disembarkation for Bartolome.

As we got on Bartolome, a sea lion was on the steps.  It was so cute, the Israeli girl thought it would be OK to sneak past it, forgetting the 2 metre rule.  But the creature showed some aggression, frightening us before moving into the water.

Bartolome hike

We made our way along the plankwalk to the top of Bartolome, stopping several times.  We got a beautiful view showing us the variety of the arid and the green landscape against the turquoise sea.  Bartolome is characterised by its Pinnacle which we would visit later.

While the view was nice, it was actually rather cold and windy.  The Galapagos must be the coldest spot in the equator at sea level I’ve ever visited!  Javier explained that the area’s climate at this time is more akin to 10 degrees north/south but having visited Southern Vietnam and Timor, I can definitely say it is much colder than that.  Perhaps colder than a New Zealand summer on a bad day.

Back at the jetty we returned on to the dinghy to take a short ride with a wet landing to access Playa Dorada and the Pinnacle.  This included a walk through very thorny bushes.

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Bartolome snorkel

Back on board, it was a very quick turnaround for us.  We were really cramming in the activities with a 0930 snorkel back on Bartolome.  Starting off, a sea lion headed towards us rather unexpectedly and it looked like just a black mass.  It frightened off the Israeli girl and she didn’t snorkel for the rest of the trip.

We saw big red starfish, a penguin swimming underwater, a black puffer fish, a yellow puffer fish and finally a white-tip reef shark (and of course plenty of other reef fish).  We had made the right decision getting wetsuits as the water was cold.

After a rest, we had an early buffet lunch around 1130.  All meals on board are buffet except when there are joining guests which meant we couldn’t all eat at once.

Sullivan Bay snorkel

It was a short move for the boat to take us to Sullivan Bay on Santiago Island.  Around 1400 we started our second snorkel for the day where spent some time with a turtle.

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Sullivan Bay hike

We returned onboard for a quick turnaround for a land excursion on Santiago, walking around the massive expanse of the lava flats.  The lava took various forms, including some interesting ropey patterns.

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The crew were very hospitable welcoming us back on board each time with cold drinks, unless it had been a snorkel outing, in which case it was hot drinks.

Evening and mushy brain

In the evening, the boat moved back to our starting position.  I felt seasick but didn’t throw up.  I took a tablet to ensure that I’d retain the delicious dinner that would be served.  In the night, we could see in the distance, the faint glow emanating from the Sierra Negra lava flow.

It has been such a full day and with the rocking motion of the boat, both of us had trouble recollecting everything.  There was a sandy beach where we could see glimpses of sharks off them and also depressions on the beach where turtles had nested.  I can’t remember if these were at near Playa Dorada on Bartolome or beyond the lava’ed area on Santiago.  Our brains had gone to mush from the relatively mild queasiness today.