Isabela & Fernandina Islands
05:45 a.m.: Still dark clouds in very low light start to appear on top of Wolf Volcano. It seems to sleep, but nobody knows when it will break up the silence, light up its slopes and burn the very few plants that grow on that inhospitable lava. The last eruption of Wolf was in 1982, but everything looks calm and peaceful now.
06:00 a.m.: Getting closer to Roca Redonda. Thousands of birds appear as if from no where. Hundreds of shearwaters, swallow-tailed gulls, storm petrels, Nazca boobies, dark-rumped petrels, brown noddy terns.
06:30 a.m.: Time for the circumnavigation around Roca Redonda. Suddenly many passengers start to walk out onto the outside decks, and a voice comes from the speakers, giving the good morning to everybody. Our Expedition Leader, Cindy Manning, explained the formation of the rock, and anything else which showed up while we were watching. So many things before breakfast!
09:00 a.m.: Time to pass the equator line! Everybody was so happy to pass latitude 0’00”.
09:30 a.m.: Zodiac cruising time in Punta Vicente Roca. As soon as we start we spot a mola mola, (oceanic sun fish), many marine iguanas, marine turtles, flightless cormorants, other coastal birds including penguins.
It is warm in the Galápagos just now, and one of the highlights is snorkeling. Conditions here were too good to pass by, so the schedule is changed, and we prepare for snorkeling now, as opposed to later in the afternoon. As soon as we jumped in the clear water, our hearts jumped with so many beautiful fish, corals, sea lions, penguins, and many, many marine turtles. And this was just the morning! There isn’t much space to write about the rest of the day, but it was a very beautiful and succesful afternoon on Fernandina Island. Everybody was content, and soon after sunset we set our course for the most beautiful town in South America, Puerto Ayora.
05:45 a.m.: Still dark clouds in very low light start to appear on top of Wolf Volcano. It seems to sleep, but nobody knows when it will break up the silence, light up its slopes and burn the very few plants that grow on that inhospitable lava. The last eruption of Wolf was in 1982, but everything looks calm and peaceful now.
06:00 a.m.: Getting closer to Roca Redonda. Thousands of birds appear as if from no where. Hundreds of shearwaters, swallow-tailed gulls, storm petrels, Nazca boobies, dark-rumped petrels, brown noddy terns.
06:30 a.m.: Time for the circumnavigation around Roca Redonda. Suddenly many passengers start to walk out onto the outside decks, and a voice comes from the speakers, giving the good morning to everybody. Our Expedition Leader, Cindy Manning, explained the formation of the rock, and anything else which showed up while we were watching. So many things before breakfast!
09:00 a.m.: Time to pass the equator line! Everybody was so happy to pass latitude 0’00”.
09:30 a.m.: Zodiac cruising time in Punta Vicente Roca. As soon as we start we spot a mola mola, (oceanic sun fish), many marine iguanas, marine turtles, flightless cormorants, other coastal birds including penguins.
It is warm in the Galápagos just now, and one of the highlights is snorkeling. Conditions here were too good to pass by, so the schedule is changed, and we prepare for snorkeling now, as opposed to later in the afternoon. As soon as we jumped in the clear water, our hearts jumped with so many beautiful fish, corals, sea lions, penguins, and many, many marine turtles. And this was just the morning! There isn’t much space to write about the rest of the day, but it was a very beautiful and succesful afternoon on Fernandina Island. Everybody was content, and soon after sunset we set our course for the most beautiful town in South America, Puerto Ayora.
