Isabela & Fernandina Islands
After a long navigation, we woke up this morning in the western region of the archipelago, with a great view of the volcanoes of Isabela. As the National Geographic Endeavour cruised along the Bolivar Channel, we arrived at Fernandina, the youngest island of the archipelago. Here we were brought back in time, among the huge colonies of the largest marine iguanas in the Galápagos, fighting for territory, ready for mating. The black lava heated the morning as we walked among them.
We also saw many Galápagos sea lions playing in the tidal pools and flightless cormorants drying their wings. Later we went snorkeling along the volcanic coast of Fernandina.
In the afternoon, Punta Vicente Roca showed us many geological features that help us understand how this island was formed. We enjoyed spectacular sightings of Pacific green sea turtles, flightless cormorants, Galápagos penguins, marine iguanas, Galápagos fur seas, Nazca boobies— everything under the sun!
We even had the opportunity to see a gentle monster of the ocean, the largest bony fish in the world: the ocean sun fish (Mola mola). It feeds on sea jellies and can reach over 2000 pounds.
At sunset we crossed the Equator line from south to north.
