Day 9: Galápagos Islands – Santa Cruz Island (Bahia Ballena, Bahia Eden & Cerro Dragon) Saturday, November 03
Enjoyed our visit to Bahia Ballena (Whale Bay). The cove of green sand is located at the base of Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) on the west coast of Santa Cruz. The beach contains a large amount of olivine crystals, green in color, that were formed from volcanic materials.
Lunch onboard, than a dry landing on Santa Cruz for a walk to Dragon Hill. Went to a saltwater lagoon and saw pink flamingoes (-:
Then hiked up Dragon Hill to see a beautiful view of the bay. Needed to watch where we stepped. Also see WDD – wild donkey dung - along our path! This area has an interesting Scalesia forest and is the nesting site for numerous reintroduced land iguanas. What’s a Scalesia forest you ask? Web links here:
Scalesia forest on the Galapagos Islands
http://www.galapagos.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/footprint4-scalesia-loss.pdf
Scalesia trees & shrubs
http://galapedia.darwinfoundation.org/Scalesia
Scalesia Zone Flora Voyagers
http://www.johnellert.com/Namaste_Reflections/PhotoLocations/Galapagos/Pages/index.html
Photo 1. A great end to a perfect sea adventure. A toast from the crew.
Photo 2. Even a special desert from Chef Humberto - Feliz Viaje Amigos – Happy Travel Friends. Need I say more?
Photo 3. We sailed into the sunset – gorgeous.
Click here for today's online photo album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay9Of17
