Isabela & Fernandina Island

What a wonderful day we had!

An early optional wakeup call finds us navigating the northwestern part of the archipelago. We are headed towards Isabela Island; this area has rich nutrients brought by an underwater current which finds this “abysmal wall” and brings all different kinds of biota to the surface. Soon after breakfast, we crossed the equator and our guests were no longer pollywogs but instead proud shellbacks baptize on the National Geographic Islander in the Galápagos Island.

We deployed our Zodiacs and as soon as we departed we were shocked to be surrounded by an impressive sphere of life. All kinds of creatures were very active as the sun was rising. This was just the beginning, closer to the island the rock became alive with iguanas, penguins, flightless cormorants, crabs and birds of different kinds all sharing this wonderful volcanic background. The turtles constantly invited us to share their underwater world, so we snorkeled among them.

Once in the ocean, even though visibility was not on our side, we had close encounters with green pacific turtles. Our guests eagerly called for an emergency, a turtle was tangle with a nylon rope and it was chocking, we could see it was just a matter of time. We collectively were able to bring this youngster onboard the Zodiac and successfully untangle it free. We were proud to have made a positive difference to this ancient reptile.
After lunch, we had a dry landing on Fernandina Island which has new volcanic features, allowing new colonies to form. Massive marine iguanas and flightless cormorants were our highlights just to mention a few. This place has a magic which makes the coexistence of wildlife contagious.

Our expedition has reached its peek and even though our guests think they have seen it all, that it can not get better then this, oh boy, they are in for a breathtaking surprise!