The Continuing Voyages of Spirit: Galapagos Islands Day 2

Punta Pitt, Cerro Brujo and Kicker Rock

The “Letty” rolled all night at anchor in Wreck Bay, even when we got underway at 0200. The cruise ships in the Galapagos are not fast, our ship cruised most of the time at 7 knots. By dawn we were approaching Punta Pitt, at the northeast tip of San Cristobal Island, where we anchored at 0730 next to “Eclipse” another ship with 48 passengers. The landing was our first “wet” landing, and after drying our feet, we hiked up a steep trail to a plateau where we saw our only Red Footed Boobie and our first Lava Lizard. The Galapagos Islands are all volcanic with the easternmost islands, like San Cristobal, the furthest away from the hot spot in the earth’s crust. During the dry season, most of the green disappears and only the red in the ice plants bring color to the landscape. The westernmost islands still have active volcanoes like in Hawaii. Returning to the beach we donned the wetsuits and had a snorkel from the beach. Even though the visibility in the water was only fair we saw lots of fish and the sea lion pups played with us as we swam near the beach. We also had our first views of the Sally Lightfoot Crab, which cover almost every rocky beach in the Galapagos Islands.

Approaching Punta Pitt

Our First Wet Landing

Climbing up Punta Pitt

Steep Trail at Punta Pitt

Dry Season Vegetation

Punta Pitt

Returning to the ship we showered off and had lunch while motoring southwest to Cerro Brujo where we had another wet landing and a long walk on the sandy beach, seeing Ghost Crabs for the first and only time, along with plenty of Sea Lions. After the beach walk we motored to Kicker Rock, seeing Manta Rays jumping out of the water along the way. Kicker Rock was impressive as we did a circuit to see all sides as the sun began to set. Our scheduled anchorage was back in Wreck Bay, but at 1820 the generator failed and we went on emergency battery power. The backup generator was in overhaul, so the galley and heads were inoperative. After anchoring in the dark, the Captain offered dinner ashore, which most of the passengers accepted. Miriam and I elected to stay aboard and about 2210 the generator was repaired, the lights came back on and later, after midnight, the rest of the passengers returned to the ship. Shortly after the passengers returned, the anchor was raised and the Letty set sail for the island of Espanola.