Isabela and Fernandina Islands, 3/12/2025, National Geographic Islander II
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander II
Galápagos
Isabela and Fernandina Islands are both volcanically active. Isabela is the largest island in the archipelago and is formed by five active shield volcanos, with Wolf Volcano being the highest point in the Galapagos. Fernandina, the youngest and most volcanically active island, last erupted in May 2024.
Salvador Cazar studied biology at the Universidad Nacional Del Sur, Bahía Blanca, in Argentina and at the Catholic University of Ecuador. Between 1988 and 1994, Salvador worked as a naturalist and tour leader for several national and international to...
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Today we went to Floreana Island, starting with a visit to the very famous Post Office Bay. Here we had the chance to deliver postcards through one of the oldest mailing systems in the Americas. Later on, we rode our Zodiacs to explore the small islet of Champion, where marine birds and sea lions display on the shore. We also snorkeled in this same area, and had close encounters with the playful sea lions. In the afternoon we hiked at Cormorant Point, an old tuff cone with a greenish sandy beach at its base surrounded by black mangroves. We explored the area looking for wildlife and enjoyed the presence and color of the greater American flamingos. On the other side of this visitor site there is a beautiful white sand beach, which is also a sea turtle nesting site. We enjoyed the last rays of today’s sun at this magical location.
We woke up early today to climb to the summit of Bartolome Island. Once you get to the top the view is breathtaking; the scenery is so dramatic and full of volcanic formations, it looks like the moon or Mars. Along the shoreline we found many Galapagos penguins fishing in the water and basking on the black rocky lava. Later on the beach, we had a lot of fun swimming, snorkeling, and strolling along the shore. In the afternoon we moved to the northern part of Santa Cruz Island to visit Cerro Brujo. This place usually belongs to the arid zone of the island, but this year it’s raining all over the archipelago, producing an important quantity of food for terrestrial animals. The area was so lush; birds such as finches and mockingbirds were very happy about the food supply, and the magical land iguanas were also well fed. Our intrepid guests enjoyed the magic of Galapagos, throughout their first full day exploring this amazing archipelago.
We began the day with a very tasty breakfast inspired by the province of Manabí. After checking the sea conditions regarding a pronounced swell and crosswind, we skipped our visit to Buccaneer Cove and headed straight to Espumilla Bay. This long sandy beach, created by phreatomagmatic eruption, provided a lovely display of reef fish, blue-footed boobies diving for salemas, pelicans hanging out, and flycatchers messing around. For the afternoon we landed at Puerto Egas. Some of us enjoyed a proper hike with iguanas and fur seals, while others stayed at the beach for swimming and snorkeling with whitetip reef sharks and marbled stingrays. It was the cherry on top to complete our amazing expedition.
