Isabela and Fernandina Island
Being on the western side of the Archipelago is like having in your hands a text book of geology. You get amazed by different geological features, but also it is like going back several million years, to the very beginning of Galápagos. Every place at one point was just a lava field, devoid of life; then step by step, little by little, plants and animals arrived and some became established. Punta Espinoza is in a different stage today, life has already colonized its shores, and we saw marine iguanas all over the basaltic lava flows. Here you find the largest and darkest among the seven subspecies living in the Archipelago. There were lots of sea lions rolling their bodies on the sandy area. But for many of us the highlights of the day were the Galápagos Flightless cormorants and the Galápagos penguins, the only living flightless sea birds on the whole planet. Their populations’ statuses are not that large; you never see penguins or cormorants in rockeries like their southern relatives.
We all came back showing happiness in our faces. The sun had been shining all day, it was hot, so right after coming back on board many of our guests jumped off the ship and refreshed themselves in the crystalline seas of Fernandina Island.
We weighed anchor and started sailing north, through Bolivar channel. The spout of a whale was spotted far away, but on our left hand site the sun was setting, and we witnessed a wonderful green flash. While having an Ecuadorian ceviche on the sky deck, the stars and the Milky Way showed up, and we learned about their names and the mythology behind them.
Being on the western side of the Archipelago is like having in your hands a text book of geology. You get amazed by different geological features, but also it is like going back several million years, to the very beginning of Galápagos. Every place at one point was just a lava field, devoid of life; then step by step, little by little, plants and animals arrived and some became established. Punta Espinoza is in a different stage today, life has already colonized its shores, and we saw marine iguanas all over the basaltic lava flows. Here you find the largest and darkest among the seven subspecies living in the Archipelago. There were lots of sea lions rolling their bodies on the sandy area. But for many of us the highlights of the day were the Galápagos Flightless cormorants and the Galápagos penguins, the only living flightless sea birds on the whole planet. Their populations’ statuses are not that large; you never see penguins or cormorants in rockeries like their southern relatives.
We all came back showing happiness in our faces. The sun had been shining all day, it was hot, so right after coming back on board many of our guests jumped off the ship and refreshed themselves in the crystalline seas of Fernandina Island.
We weighed anchor and started sailing north, through Bolivar channel. The spout of a whale was spotted far away, but on our left hand site the sun was setting, and we witnessed a wonderful green flash. While having an Ecuadorian ceviche on the sky deck, the stars and the Milky Way showed up, and we learned about their names and the mythology behind them.
