Today we enjoyed the opportunity to explore the uplands of Santa Cruz, one of the largest islands of the Galápagos. The humid zone offers perfect foraging grounds for the giant tortoise; in order to find the tortoises, we travelled by bus from the north of the island to the southern side. We found large numbers of tortoises on the privately owned El Manzanillo Ranch. After a delicious lunch, we returned to our ship and weighed anchor. We had reports that Wolf Volcano, located on Isabela Island, was still active! We navigated for a few hours until we reached the coast nearest to the eruption site; from there, we admired a beautiful red glow against the dark night. What an amazing opportunity to admire the forces of nature that produced these magnificent islands!
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 25 Jan 2022
Santa Cruz Island, 1/25/2022, National Geographic Endeavour II
- Aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II
- Galápagos
Gaby Bohorquez, Naturalist
Gaby was born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her first job in the Galapagos was on board a 90-passenger cruise ship as the cruise director’s assistant, and she fell under the spell of the Enchanted Isles. She returned to Guayaquil to study at the ...
Read MoreShare Report
Exploring Galápagos
VIEW ITINERARYRelated Reports
5/21/2025
Read
National Geographic Gemini
Elizabeth Bay and Punta Moreno, Isabel Island
Overnight, after ten hours of navigation, we woke up surrounded by active volcanoes on the western side of the Galapagos Archipelago. We jumped into Zodiacs and explored a pristine and unique mangrove ecosystem. In addition to photographing unique landscapes and endemic animals, we also learned the importance of this area. By the afternoon, we headed south and reached Punta Moreno, located at the bellybutton of the sea horse. We walked on lava and explored the coastlines, then finished our day of exploration with a mesmerizing sunset.
5/20/2025
Read
National Geographic Gemini
Floreana
Today we stopped by Floreana Island, the historical capital of the Galapagos province. In the early morning hours, we started exploring the Post Office Bay coastline by kayaks and Zodiacs. Along the basaltic coastline we found emblematic animals, such as marine iguanas and flamingos. To finish the morning, we continued with the whaling mail tradition of taking and leaving postcards for hand delivery upon our return home. After a delicious lunch, we continued our day with two more activities, starting with snorkeling around Champion Islet with an abundance and great diversity of marine life surrounding us. Finally, we had a beautiful sunset walk along Cormorant Point, an ideal site to observe the coastal vegetation as well as the iconic flamingo population.