Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Early this morning as we navigated along the northern coast of Isabela Island, we encountered a pod of common dolphins. We followed them for a half an hour, zigzagging after them as they were feeding and marvelling at their acrobatic leaps out of the water. After breakfast we crossed the equatorial line and King Neptune and several pirates visited us. Many of our guests had to pay tribute to the King for crossing the Equator.
Later in the morning we went for a Zodiac ride along the coastline of the northwestern part of Isabela known as Punta Vicente Roca. The rich underwater upwellings provide a lot of food to the creatures that live in this area. During the ride we saw many interesting animals like Galápagos fur seals, green turtles, flightless cormorants, blue-footed boobies, Galápagos penguins and the sunfish. The penguins were the favorites today; they were busy fishing but at some point some of them stopped, they were probably full and decided to then swim near the Zodiacs. They were very curious and we were all very happy having the opportunity to see them so close. We came back on board and just a few minutes later we were ready for the water activities. Snorkeling today was outstanding, the visibility of the water was great and the sightings were just amazing.
This afternoon we visited Fernandina Island, the youngest island in the Galápagos archipelago. The volcanic landscape in this area is fascinating, there is a perfect inverted soup plate volcano surrounded by black lava flows. During the walk we found several flightless cormorants nesting on the coastline, we were fascinated with them and spent some time observing their behavior. Large iguanas were also resting on the rocks trying to recover the heat they needed to digest their meals. Newly hatched marine iguanas were sitting right next to the cracks ready to hide, just in case a predator came closer. Some of them will reach adulthood and some others will become part of the food chain. These intriguing reptiles have very interesting lives and are not seen anywhere else in the world. We all enjoyed very much visiting this paradisiacal place.
Early this morning as we navigated along the northern coast of Isabela Island, we encountered a pod of common dolphins. We followed them for a half an hour, zigzagging after them as they were feeding and marvelling at their acrobatic leaps out of the water. After breakfast we crossed the equatorial line and King Neptune and several pirates visited us. Many of our guests had to pay tribute to the King for crossing the Equator.
Later in the morning we went for a Zodiac ride along the coastline of the northwestern part of Isabela known as Punta Vicente Roca. The rich underwater upwellings provide a lot of food to the creatures that live in this area. During the ride we saw many interesting animals like Galápagos fur seals, green turtles, flightless cormorants, blue-footed boobies, Galápagos penguins and the sunfish. The penguins were the favorites today; they were busy fishing but at some point some of them stopped, they were probably full and decided to then swim near the Zodiacs. They were very curious and we were all very happy having the opportunity to see them so close. We came back on board and just a few minutes later we were ready for the water activities. Snorkeling today was outstanding, the visibility of the water was great and the sightings were just amazing.
This afternoon we visited Fernandina Island, the youngest island in the Galápagos archipelago. The volcanic landscape in this area is fascinating, there is a perfect inverted soup plate volcano surrounded by black lava flows. During the walk we found several flightless cormorants nesting on the coastline, we were fascinated with them and spent some time observing their behavior. Large iguanas were also resting on the rocks trying to recover the heat they needed to digest their meals. Newly hatched marine iguanas were sitting right next to the cracks ready to hide, just in case a predator came closer. Some of them will reach adulthood and some others will become part of the food chain. These intriguing reptiles have very interesting lives and are not seen anywhere else in the world. We all enjoyed very much visiting this paradisiacal place.
