Every time we come to this part of the archipelago, it brings our souls peace and happiness because the wildlife here is so naive and friendly. As soon as we approach Fernandina Island on our Zodiacs, our imaginations begin to wonder how so much natural beauty could exist in the Galápagos.
Fernandina Island was formed by a very young volcano and its colonization is just taking place. There is no way to calculate how long it may take for the ecological niches to be filled or for outside species to arrive. This area is very productive and that is the reason it has one of the largest marine iguana colonies in the Galápagos. It also has 70 percent of the Galápagos penguin population and the whole population of Galápagos flightless cormorants as well. As with every place in our planet, there is a top predator and in this group of Oceanic islands, it is the Galápagos hawk. It was very impressive to see a juvenile hawk catching its own food, a baby iguana. This may have been its very first catch because the marine iguana almost escaped the hawk’s sharp claws.
In the afternoon, we sailed for a few hours toward Punta Vicente Roca on Isabela Island. This is a protected bay excellent for Zodiac rides and water activities too. Our guests were fascinated by how approachable the turtles are here in the Galápagos. We could have touched them from our Zodiacs and while snorkeling with them, but that would be very irresponsible. As long as we keep respecting nature the way we have been doing since the Galápagos was declared a protected area, we will have this Paradise for future generations to come.
