Galapagos 2009»Bartoleme

Having reached Bartolomé we set off in our panga passing the impressive Pinnacle Rock that leans into the bay and spotting a few penguins on and around the rocks. When we reached the island we set off on a brief 10 minute walk over the sand dunes to the other side of the bay where we spotted white and black tipped sharks swimming in the shallows along with golden rays. This was against a backdrop of volcanic hills - quite magical! Having lingered here a while, we returned to the the other side of the island where we began our snorkeling activities, swimming off shore and around the rocks and encountering the penguins that we had seen earlier. Seeing them swimming along side us was a real treat, made even more satisfying when we were joined by a playful sea lion close to the shore. The sea was teeming with life with hundreds of colourful fish and some tiny fish swimming in kaleidoscopic formation. We also spotted a moray eel and an octopus. Fantastic!!


After our exhilarating snorkeling activities, we returned to the boat for a brief freshen up before returning to Bartolomé to climb the summit trail up to a viewing spot overlooking the two bays. This was less strenuous than expected as a wooden walkway and steps had been erected here to protect the island. We passed two sea lions lounging around at the bottom of the steps. The terrain on the island was very dry and baron, apart from the odd cacti and a some ground dwelling vegetation, it looked quite primeval. The scenery at the summit was quite breathtaking. We could see the bays where we had snorkeled earlier with the backdrop of rocks including the Pinnacle Rock. It was quite cloudy, so the sunset was a little less spectacular. On a clearer day all the surrounding Galapagos islands can be seen from here. After a group photo shoot we descended the steps, passing the two sea lions that we'd seen earlier.