Santa Cruz Island

We had come nearly full circle on our expeditionary cruise around the Galápagos, returning to Santa Cruz Island. Our final afternoon saw us in the island's northwestern corner for a hike to the top of Dragon Hill, so named for being one of the only places on the island where land iguanas could be found.

The sun was quite literally smiling on us, with stunning skies that mirrored the beautiful blue waters. 

I'm not sure who made these tracks on the beach.  Sea lion, I guess?  Whoever it was, I picture a galumphing gait and a bit of a hurry.

Shout out to the Sally Lightfoot Crab who provided a nice splash of color on the beach.

Speaking of crabs, I enjoyed spotting this Ecuadorian Hermit Crab making its way across the sand.

A small group of marine iguanas had headed slightly inland to bask on the edge of a brackish lagoon.

A familiar bird from past visits to the Galveston area -- a Black-necked Stilt -- was also enjoying the lagoon.

We had a second encounter of the day with White-cheeked Pintails, but this time much closer and in much better light.  The end result: a much better picture!

If you were unsure how dabbling ducks got their name, here's a pretty good illustration.  Our friend here was looking for plants and seeds in the soft mud.

The lagoon was apparently bigger during wetter parts of the year.

Dragon Hill was aptly named.  Not so much for its "dragons," but for its prominence relative to the surrounding landscape.

The late afternoon sun provided some nice backlight to the plentiful cacti.

The glow of the spines was nicely magnified when, well, magnified.

The hike was relatively short, and provided a nice view back to the ocean.

Our visit was rapidly winding down.  The next day would see us board a plane back to the mainland.  But we still had one more highly anticipated stop to make!

Click here for more blog posts from my amazing visit to the Galápagos Islands!