Isabela & Fernandina Islands
We just came down from the top deck of the Islander where, with all the ship’s lights turned off, we had been admiring the Southern Cross and the Milky Way. Jupiter and Venus were bright despite a half moon and I pointed out the southern constellation of Corvus the crow. Now, here in the lounge, latin dance music is blasting and amidst laughing and clapping our adult guests are practicing their salsa and the kids are doing cartwheels. The stars of the show tonight are a father and daughter pair who have obviously danced together before! Its amazing that everyone still has so much energy to burn, after our full and absolutely marvelous day.
I am in the lounge staff office, trying to concentrate, and despite the excitement, noise and music, I am determined to remember the details of this fabulous day.
We crossed the equator line this morning, just after breakfast, and with a champagne toast and three blasts of the ship’s horn we all changed from Pollywogs to Galápagos Shellbacks. After we anchored at Punta Vicente Roca, the Islander crew lowered our fleet of floating limos – “the pangas” – and everyone headed off on a Zodiac ride. We were delighted to have close looks at countless swimming sea turtles, several blue-eyed, flightless cormorants and charming tiny Galápagos penguins. Huge marine iguanas were draped on the lava rocks and ledges and sea lions swam around the boats as curious about us as we were about them. Blue-footed boobies and elegant, silver headed noddy terns sat on the beige tuff cliffs. Some of us saw a Mola mola, the six-foot wide pelagic sunfish, right beside our panga.
Back to ship, into our wetsuits and off we went to snorkel from the Zodiacs. The water was crystal clear and COLD, and there were dozens of sea turtles feeding and resting and totally unafraid of us. Penguins zipped past us and a cormorant swam below me. A playful sea lion tugged and chewed on a porcupine puffer’s tail. The poor fish puffed up and de-puffed repeatedly in an attempt to escape his tormentor. But the unqualified highlight of this snorkel outing was a fearless Mola mola that we swam alongside for half an hour. This was my “best mola experience ever” – and that is saying a lot as I have been a naturalist in these magical islands for 30 years. What a blast! We finally left him – he did not leave us – as we had been in the water for almost two hours and were thoroughly cold and hungry.
After a delicious Ecuadorian buffet lunch and a much needed siesta (my husband and I supervised the kids who made extravagant bead necklaces and tied sailor’s knots rather than rest) I sent three groups out to hike on the lava flows of Fernandina. The afternoon was breezy and cool and the clear blue sky and late sun bathed us in a golden light, just perfect for photography. We hiked carefully along a rough lava trail and found nesting cormorants with small fuzzy black chicks. Marine iguanas were piled on the rocks, a long, thin, dark snake prowled the lava cracks looking for lava lizards and a huge sea lion beach master patrolled a small bay. Just off shore blue-footed boobies plummeted and plunged from the sky in a feeding frenzy.
The lounge is now quiet, the dancers are all gone to bed. We have a full and fun day scheduled for tomorrow - just another day in paradise.
We just came down from the top deck of the Islander where, with all the ship’s lights turned off, we had been admiring the Southern Cross and the Milky Way. Jupiter and Venus were bright despite a half moon and I pointed out the southern constellation of Corvus the crow. Now, here in the lounge, latin dance music is blasting and amidst laughing and clapping our adult guests are practicing their salsa and the kids are doing cartwheels. The stars of the show tonight are a father and daughter pair who have obviously danced together before! Its amazing that everyone still has so much energy to burn, after our full and absolutely marvelous day.
I am in the lounge staff office, trying to concentrate, and despite the excitement, noise and music, I am determined to remember the details of this fabulous day.
We crossed the equator line this morning, just after breakfast, and with a champagne toast and three blasts of the ship’s horn we all changed from Pollywogs to Galápagos Shellbacks. After we anchored at Punta Vicente Roca, the Islander crew lowered our fleet of floating limos – “the pangas” – and everyone headed off on a Zodiac ride. We were delighted to have close looks at countless swimming sea turtles, several blue-eyed, flightless cormorants and charming tiny Galápagos penguins. Huge marine iguanas were draped on the lava rocks and ledges and sea lions swam around the boats as curious about us as we were about them. Blue-footed boobies and elegant, silver headed noddy terns sat on the beige tuff cliffs. Some of us saw a Mola mola, the six-foot wide pelagic sunfish, right beside our panga.
Back to ship, into our wetsuits and off we went to snorkel from the Zodiacs. The water was crystal clear and COLD, and there were dozens of sea turtles feeding and resting and totally unafraid of us. Penguins zipped past us and a cormorant swam below me. A playful sea lion tugged and chewed on a porcupine puffer’s tail. The poor fish puffed up and de-puffed repeatedly in an attempt to escape his tormentor. But the unqualified highlight of this snorkel outing was a fearless Mola mola that we swam alongside for half an hour. This was my “best mola experience ever” – and that is saying a lot as I have been a naturalist in these magical islands for 30 years. What a blast! We finally left him – he did not leave us – as we had been in the water for almost two hours and were thoroughly cold and hungry.
After a delicious Ecuadorian buffet lunch and a much needed siesta (my husband and I supervised the kids who made extravagant bead necklaces and tied sailor’s knots rather than rest) I sent three groups out to hike on the lava flows of Fernandina. The afternoon was breezy and cool and the clear blue sky and late sun bathed us in a golden light, just perfect for photography. We hiked carefully along a rough lava trail and found nesting cormorants with small fuzzy black chicks. Marine iguanas were piled on the rocks, a long, thin, dark snake prowled the lava cracks looking for lava lizards and a huge sea lion beach master patrolled a small bay. Just off shore blue-footed boobies plummeted and plunged from the sky in a feeding frenzy.
The lounge is now quiet, the dancers are all gone to bed. We have a full and fun day scheduled for tomorrow - just another day in paradise.
