We started early to enjoy amazing scenery. We had entered Bolivar Channel and finally after a long navigation we had reached the western side of the Galapagos. Six and a half volcanoes were around us. The shield volcanoes are young, majestic and dormant for now. The cold winds that are bringing Humboldt Current to the islands mixed with the upwelling of Cromwell current to produce a very rich marine environment. With this incredible landscape we anchored at Fernandina Island to explore Punta Espinoza, a pristine area full of life from the first step we set on the island.
It was low tide, so we had to disembark on the lava field while we observed hundreds of marine iguanas feeding on the algae. We walked carefully to reach the sandy area that took us to the nesting site of flightless cormorants, unique to the Galapagos. We sat there and enjoyed of courtship ritual of these weird looking birds, while we spotted several green sea turtles taking in a shy way their heads out of the water… Unique species came to our encounter: Galapagos sea lions, Galapagos hawks and endemic lava lizards.
We came back to the Endeavour and we started our navigation towards Punta Vicente Roca on Isabela Island. While navigating we were called for the outer decks for the highlight of the day… killer whales had been spotted! Our officers and captain carefully maneuvered the ship to give us an amazing sight of them.
We arrived to Punta Vicente Roca to explore its shores and waters from below and above as we first snorkel on the area and then we went on our zodiacs to get a view of the place with our cameras. This is a wonderful place to see green sea turtles! We spotted dozens of them.
We came back to get changed and go back again to the outer decks, we all got together in front of the bridge to celebrate the crossing of the Ecuador line… guests, crew, staff and even pirates! Yes everything is possible in Galapagos!
