Fernandina & Isabela Island
Our day began early in the morning with an outing along the coastline of Fernandina, the youngest in the archipelago and perhaps the largest pristine island in the world.
We landed on the black rocks at Punta Espinosa or “spiny point,” as this morning’s low tide made it impossible to use the small dock; incredibly, this place was uplifted more than three feet during the 1970’s, showing us the incredible ways nature works, changing and creating beautiful landscapes.
Trapped in a small pond we found a big sea turtle, waiting patiently for the next high tide so it could go back to the open waters. On the rocks, hoards of marine iguanas took the best position to receive the first beam of light after a wet and cold night. We observed many males bobbing their heads, signaling their aggression to mark their territory, while on their bodies a group of finches and lava lizards –cleaners by trade – ate their molted skin and some parasites.
We crossed some small beaches where yellow warblers flittered about, looking for insects. Sea lions rested pleasantly, some snoring loudly while others, the youngest, played among the shallows waiting for their mothers. Next we turned to the flightless cormorant; we observed many of them, but the best were a couple on the beach displaying a romantic courtship, hugging each other with their wings, giving small presents and finally mating, which just took few seconds.
After walking, we went back to the island to snorkel along the shallows. It was great, with a sunny day and warm water we observed many green sea turtles swimming beside us or resting on the bottom as though taking a siesta, while many small fish cleaned their shells, feeding on small organisms growing on them. Inevitably, curious sea lions swam with us, and cormorants swimming as torpedoes crossed in front of us, chasing fish. And there were marine iguanas feeding on algae underwater; spectacular scenery only seen here in this paradise, probably the last refuge of these innocent creatures.
In the afternoon, we visited Isabela, the largest island. Its cloud-covered volcanoes looked gigantic and their slopes showed us a greenness resulting from the last rainfalls. The rainy season has just started and it’s going to turn everything green.
Then we headed to Punta Vicente Roca, for one of the most beautiful Zodiac rides in the archipelago; by observing the dikes or vertical lines of lava through the red walls of the volcano, we understood how a volcano works inside. In the water, dozens of sea turtles swam patiently, showing us their heads and entire bodies; beside them many penguins were fishing for small mullets, while on the rocks a group of cormorants dried their stumpy wings after a long day’s journey.
Finally, we went back to the National Geographic Endeavour, heading to the north to cross the equator. Certainly King Neptune came to visit us and gave us the official welcome to this beautiful place, with the gigantic volcanoes as witnesses of our adventure.
