Isabela & Fernandina Island
We have repositioned the National Geographic Islander towards the Northwesternmost realm of the Galápagos archipelago; what a gorgeous morning with calm seas, big volcanoes on our port side and wonderful sightings all along. In the same area, one can easily encounter a good number of sea bird species unique to the islands, such as the Galápagos shearwater and the dark rump petrel.
After a delicious breakfast we were all advised that at some point during the morning we would be crossing the equator line, so we requested the presence of everyone at the bridge deck to witness this event. To our great surprise, a very demanding King Neptune showed up requesting sacrifices; he was not alone, because he was accompanied by a couple of scary pirates and a cute nymph. Every guest (especially our younger ones) paid tribute to the ocean authorities, therefore King Neptune allowed us to continue navigating in this magic place.
Afterwards we dropped anchor at Punta Vicente Roca; our Zodiacs were launched and we all went for a spectacular panga ride looking for wildlife. We encountered the famous Galápagos penguins, flightless cormorants, and the everpresent Galápagos sea lions.
In the afternoon during the walk on Fernandina Island, we felt like travelling back in time; Fernandina is a very pristine place and it is the youngest of all the islands in the archipelago, and that is why you see new basaltic lava flows all over the place. We also called it “lizard city” for the amount of marine iguanas sun bathing. There were also Sally Lightfoot crabs along the jagged shore lines, and I even had a close encounter with one of them when it climbed my foot and gave me a “free pedicure” (to tell you the truth, I enjoyed it a lot!)
It has been for sure another great day visiting “Las Islas Encantadas”
