Punta Espinoza and Punta Vicente Roca
The early bird gets the worm, yes indeed. That’s what happened to us this morning at 5:45 a.m. when we woke up and went to the bridge of the National Geographic Endeavour in search of whales. Only a few were visible at first, and from a distance, but we weren’t disappointed because we know that the Bolivar Canal between Isabela Island and Fernandina Island is the best area in the Galápagos for whale watching. Our reward came later, after a walk on Fernandina Island. On our way back to the ship we encountered five or six humpback whales quite close to our zodiacs. Our excited travelers were thrilled at this natural show the Galápagos was offering to us, and for many it was their first timing seeing these humongous mammals, which were so close we could hear the sound of their spouts! Our fearless travelers will never forget such a moment.
Our walk itself was spectacular, and as always we saw plenty of wildlife, including marine iguanas, hawks, finches, warblers, migratory birds such as ruddy turnstones and wandering tattlers, and flightless cormorants mating and building their nests. We also found many newborn sea lions along the coast, multicolor crabs on the intertidal zone and the incredible landscape with “la cumbre” volcano in the background, which is one of the most active volcanos in the world and the one that formed this island about 300,000 years ago. In fact Fernandina Island is one the youngest islands here and one of the most pristine places on earth.
After our exploration on Punta Espinosa we put on our snorkeling gear for a swim. The water is cold to us at this time of year, but not for the penguins that enjoy it, passing by like torpedoes below our fins.
Our afternoon was also exciting, with a zodiac ride beginning with some manta rays showing off as soon as we motored away. Along the impressive cliff of Punta Vincente Roca we saw a busy colony of Galápagos fur sea lions, some Nazca boobies resting on the wall, shear waters, and terns and storm petrels working together to find food. We saw some marine turtles gathering in shallow waters eating the nutritious algae located there, and as a final touch we saw a “mola mola,” or sun fish. Mola Mola’s are quite large, about six feet in length, but very tame. One came very close to us, with its long dorsal fin near our zodiac.
Finally, as the famous expression at the beginning of this report stated, we as birds got the worm today. It was a very special day that concluded with a crossing the equator ceremony, which is only an excuse for celebrating our magnificent journey and a good opportunity to come together as one.
