Santiago Island, Galapagos

Time to explore a new island! We made two separate stops on Santiago Island today to see two completely different feels of the island.  Santiago Island is more central in the Galapagos than Isabela and Ferdinandina which are located in the West.  We saw some ghost crabs for the first time.

They aren’t as pretty as the Red Rock Crabs I have been taking pictures of but they are much speedier.  These guys dig holes in the sand and scuttle around.

I get made fun of in my group because I always am taking pictures of crabs.  I then make fun of them for taking so many pictures of random tree birds.  Here is one of my Santiago photos of a prey bird.  It is a juvenile Galapagos Hawk:

Santiago Island also has lava fields but it is older than Ferdinandina and Isabela Islands so there is more vegetation and a nice sandy beach from which to snorkel.  On a hot, sunny day, it feels good!

Nice and relaxing for non-snorkelers!

The other side of Santiago  island is a lava field with Galapagos sea lions and Red Rock crabs:

Galapagos Sea Lions like to hang out in the crystal clear blue waters here and sunbathe on the black rocks.

This one likes to do water yoga:

I really do love taking pictures of crabs