Visiting Isla Santa Cruz in the Galápagos Archipelago

A Glorious Sunrise

One morning soon after we arrived, I woke up early and looked out the porthole next to my berth to see the beginnings of a glorious sunrise. I quickly went on deck and started taking pictures, getting lots of good shots. The horizon was cloudy, which prevented a direct view of the sun, but the clouds helped by making the sunrise very colorful. At one point, there was fiery red light coming through the clouds and reflecting from the water, which highlighted spray and mist rising from the shoreline in front of dark cliffs. Quite a shot. I have some sunrise pictures on this page and the next two pages, after which the story continues.

The beginnings of a beautiful sunrise, with the eastern horizon seemingly on fire.		A closer view of the cliffs adjacent to the mouth of Academy Bay.

As the clouds thickened, the flaming colors became more muted.		A closer view of the cliffs.

A hole opened in the clouds, allowing intense but colorful light to shine through.		I took this picture a minute and a half later; the hole opened and closed over a span of five minutes.

Colorful reflections from the nearly calm water.