Venecia Islet and Cerro Dragon

Overnight we traveled to the other side of Santa Cruz island to Venecia Islet and Cerro Dragon. Venecia Islet is a shallow area with many mangrove trees and was perfect for kayaking. In the relatively shallow and clear water we saw lots of white-tipped sharks and diamond rays. After today Venecia Islet will be closed to all visitors as the park authorities have decided that it is an area that is too sensitive for visitation.

After kayaking we did a quick change into our snorkeling gear and did some deep water snorkeling at an area known as Guy Fawkes. There was quite a bit of wave action so the water wasn’t crystal clear but we had a great sighting of a very large Spotted eagle ray and some very large white tipped sharks. Most fun was floating along the wall of the underwater cliffs and looking at all of the little critters living there. It made me want to watch the movie, “Finding Nemo” again!

In the late afternoon we went ashore in an area known as Cerro Dragon. This is an area where there has been an effort to restore populations of land iguanas. It was a blistering hot walk but we saw some beautiful large male land iguanas. After getting back to the ship some folks jumped overboard to cool off in the ocean.

In the evening we all wore our various Galapagos t-shirts to an on-deck barbeque. By far the most popular t-shirts are ones with blue-footed boobies on them.


Tomorrow will be our last full day in the Galapagos. We will visit two areas on Santiago Island.

Weather:
Sunny: 80-90 F
Water temperature: 72 F

Santa Cruz Island: Venecia Islet, Guy Fawkes and Cerro Dragon

Birds:
Audubon shearwater
Brown pelican
Blue-footed booby
Magnificent frigate bird
White-cheeked pintail
Whimbrel
Phalarope
Lesser yellow legs
Willet
Black necked stilt
White-cheeked pintail
Sanderlings
Great blue heron
Striated heron
Galapagos mockingbird


Other:
Land iguana
Spotted eagle ray
White tipped shark
Pacific sea turtle
Sally lightfoot crabs
Marine iguana
Many fishes, sea cucumbers, and echinoderms