At sunrise we woke up at anchor on the northern shores of Bartholomew Island.
After breakfast most of our guests landed at the jetty on Bartholomew Islet and hiked to the summit to enjoy the view of Sullivan Bay and the surrounding islands. Other guests landed at the beach for swimming and snorkeling. Some lucky ones had a first opportunity to see the endemic Galapagos penguin.
After returning to the ship mid-morning we got ready for the first deep water snorkeling of the day. The penguins performed for us once again and many species of colorful fishes where sighted in the clear waters of the channel that separates Bartholomew Island from the main island of Santiago.
During lunch time National Geographic Endeavour II repositioned a few miles to the south to an anchorage surrounded by a group of islets known as Bainbridge. Right after lunch we gathered on the sundeck as the ship slowly passed right next to an islet that has a big brackish water lake in a crater where American Flamingoes where observed on the opposite shore.
After a well-deserved opportunity for “siesta” we took to our zodiacs once again to snorkel in the shallow sandy bottomed channel that separates Santiago Island from Sombrero Chino Islet. The visibility was great and the waters teeming with life. And white tipped reef sharks and Galapagos penguins where spotted both swimming and diving around us and basking on the rocky shore.
Late in the afternoon we left the ship one last time to take advantage of the flat light to photograph the penguins and other wildlife on the shore as well as the amazing landscape.
Later during the evening and after briefing we dinned under the stars looking forward to our last day at Genovesa Island.
