Ecuador 2017: Gálapagos: Día 3

Today's tour was to explore Bartolome Island. We had to get up really early because getting to Bartolome Island takes about 2 hours by boat. The ride to the dock was about 45 minutes from the city.

Once on board, I was joined by a Jhover our excelent guide and a really nice family of four from Argentina (one of the girls was a friend of the family). Because we left early for this trip. we were treated for breakfast on board the Galapagos Shark (the name of our boat - cool name!).

It was a nice boat ride because the boat wasn't packed with many people and it was a gorgeous day! I became instant friends with Roberto and his family, our guide Jhover and also with the captain of the boat, Captain Jonssy. The ride was pretty fun. We were able to sit at the front of the boat and enjoy uninterrupted amazing views of the small islands we passed.

On the way, we spotted dolphins and some kind of *ray swimming in the water next to our boats. We were greeted by the islands of Santiago and Bartelome as we approached our destination.

The views of the island as we were approaching nothing short of spectacular.

Once we arrived at Bartoleme island we embarked to the shore where we were greeted by two penguins. We were lucky to see these penguins because there are only a few thousand spread around the islands.

On land, our guide Jhover told us all about the island including how it was formed and introduced us to the plants that grow in the area. He showed us the craters formed by volcanic eruptions (and pointed out one in the water!). We learned that black rocks were the newer volcanic rocks and overtime they turn red because of oxidation.

We were able to hold a volcanic rock and surprised to learn how light it was. The rock I held weighed no more than half a pound.

We were able to climb all the way up the volcano to see magnificent views of the entire surrounding landscape. The views were spectacular anywhere you looked on the island.

One odd formation was pointed out to be Pinnacle Rock. Our guide told us that it was formed when the US Navy occupied the Galapagos Islands and it was a direct result of a missile explosion. After further research, I've read that it was actually formed by a volcanic eruption and the formation is known as a volcanic cone. I've also read that the US Navy used the cone as target practice and you may still be able to see bullet holes on the structure. Nevertheless, it is pretty interesting to look at.