Fernandina and Isabela Islands
Our day began early in the morning with a spectacular view of the youngest islands of the archipelago, with their gigantic and majestic volcanoes showing us the geology of the islands.
Our first activity began with a landing on the old dock at Fernandina; we had walked a few steps when, in the middle of the path, dozens of marine iguanas hampered our progress. They remained static and unperturbed, facing to the first beams of sun; this behavior was understandable because last night it rained, and they needed to warm up. Walking inland, we observed a juvenile Galápagos hawk on a mangrove tree. Along the beach, sea lions were the delight of our guests, who enjoyed taking pictures of those extraordinary creatures.
The white sandy beach was riddled with holes and little by little we began to observe the cause of this striking spectacle. From the black rocks, a group of female marine iguanas walked slowly to the beach stepping into the holes to dig the nests that they probably hadn’t finished the day before. It was spectacular to observe, as in few minutes the beach was crowded with black creatures disappearing underground or fighting to protect their nests made during long hour of arduous work.
At the end of the trail we observed a group of flightless cormorants drying their stumpy wings, while in the water male sea lions, like the iguanas, fought to protect their territories.
The second part of this morning was dedicated to discovering the underwater world of the island, heading in the Zodiacs to the shore of the island for some of the most beautiful snorkeling in the Galápagos, observing sea turtles, flightless cormorants and colorful fish everywhere.
In the afternoon, the National Geographic Endeavour dropped anchor just in front of the Ecuador Volcano at Isabela Island. We began with a Zodiac ride along the coastline observing fur sea lions, Nazca boobies and sea turtles. The sunny day became darker and it began to rain, but it wasn’t an impediment to our observation of the colorful and gigantic formation just in front of us; along its foot, flightless cormorants and penguins caught the attention of our guests.
Our day finished crossing the Equator, observing the last beams of sun disappearing in the west and remembering the beautiful islands and the incredible creatures we observed today.
