Early in the morning we wake up with the ship still moving along the coast of the largest island of Galapagos. After enjoying the view of all the volcanoes along the coast, we crossed the equator line and celebrated this exciting event with everyone on the bow of the ship.
We soon arrived to Punta Vicente Roca, and we went on a Zodiac ride along the coast. It was ideal to enjoy the amazing geology. Many turtles are found in the bay, mostly resting; bird activity was at its highest for the abundance of fish. Penguins were the best, just chasing some bait fish and being followed by the opportunist brown noddies trying to steal the fish from the penguin’s mouths.
After a wonderful morning, we navigated to our next destination, the Island of Fernandina, the youngest island of them all. Punta Espinoza is an extraordinary visitor site, where many species of animals are seen. From the beginning, hundreds of marine iguanas were basking in the sun and others in the water gathering algae from the sea.
Flightless cormorants nest on the rocks at this time. We were lucky to spot a few of these endemic birds, some nesting and others drying their wings. Vegetation here is poor due to the young age of the island, but some have found their way to survive like the unique lava cactus, a true pioneer on oceanic islands. The light was fading, but a beautiful sunset was a great subject to photograph and the sign that we needed to return back to our mother ship.
We made our way back to the National Geographic Islander leaving one of the best jewels in the crown of the enchanted archipelago.
