Fernandina and Isabela are considered to be the youngest islands of the archipelago. Their proximity to the hotspot is the reason for the great volcanism found here, and the place where the last eruptions occurred in Galapagos, in 2009 on Fernandina and in 2015 on Isabela. After a long navigation from Rabida Island and crossing the equator twice, we finally reached Bolivar Channel, which divides Fernandina and Isabela islands in the western part of Galapagos. The two youngest islands feature five very active volcanoes and one dormant volcano named Ecuador, in honor of the equator line and our country Ecuador.
Early in the morning, early riser guests visited the upper decks looking for sea mammals and sea birds, enjoying the gigantic shield volcanoes with the first beams of sun touching the calm waters, warming up this magical place. The water conditions were excellent and the ocean was calm. After breakfast we headed to Fernandina Island. We disembarked on the old landing dock, which was covered with some marine iguanas and crabs, while in the ocean a couple of flightless cormorants displayed their elaborate courtship ritual, swimming together along the shallows. Walking along the black rocks we observed large colonies of marine iguanas, basking impassively in the sun, while a snake rested peacefully on a rock beside the trail. Some pelicans were resting on the branches of red mangroves, and two juvenile Galapagos hawks flew about nearby looking for food. We arrived to the white beach, which was full of female marine iguanas working hard to make their nests. We even observed some of them trying to defend their territories against other iguanas that were trying to steal their nests.
We arrived to the shallows, where sea turtles swam peacefully while others warmed their bodies on the nearby rocks, which were covered completely by green algae. This tranquility was interruptws by a noisy sea lion which was barking constantly, warning other males not to enter his territory. Finally, we arrived to the flightless cormorants’ zone where many of them were seen opening their stumpy wings, drying out their wet bodies after a successful morning of fishing.
When everybody returned, the National Geographic Endeavour II began to sail north for Isabela, the largest island in Galapagos. We started our first outing in the afternoon, snorkeling along Punta Vicente Roca. The ocean was very calm and the weather was sunny, and our guests could observe penguins, flightless cormorants and sea turtles everywhere. After snorkeling we returned to the same place, this time in Zodiacs to observe the geology of this gigantic volcano. At the west, the last beams of sunset looked magnificent, while onboard we danced the limbo our guests crossed the equator line. What a joyful way to end this beautiful day.
