Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Today was a really special day because we did the two longest navigations of the week and we crossed the equator line four times. We also visited the youngest and most active place, geologically speaking, in the Galápagos archipelago.
Our day was full of activities so our guests could get to explore both the marine and land ecosystems of this area. Some had an early rising, looking for whales. We did not see any, but instead we had a gorgeous view of the surrounding landscape:, shield volcanoes, almost all of them active. We went by the oldest of them all, Ecuador, a collapsed formation. We could see inside the caldera from the ship.
The western area of the Galápagos is unique because of its setting. Very young formations surrounded by very cold waters upwelling makes life easy for Galápagos penguins, flightless cormorants and sea turtles. We had to get in the water and see all that first-hand. Snorkeling was incredible; we got to see them all, what a combination of animals!
Just to have a whole appreciation of the place, we had a Zodiac ride. It was just a short one along the coast of Punta Vicente Roca or morning site, and we came to understand the geological formations that are found on this archipelago, and life on it as well.
It was an active morning, but the day still had more to offer: another island in the afternoon, Fernandina, the youngest, and for some the jewel of this archipelago. It is a black formation, so young that it hardly has settlers. Those who did get here cannot be more special. We saw groups of marine iguanas everywhere. There were 50 or 60 individuals in one place, but they were hard to notice, until we almost stepped on them. Because of their dark color, black just like lava, all of a sudden they appeared on the trail in front of us.
The many solidified lava flows shaped up this place, providing safe pools for sea lions, females and their pups. Crevices and fissures are hide-outs for bright red Sally Lightfoot crabs, striated herons, great blue herons, you name it.
A place so dry and so inhospitable; so volcanic, so dramatic; facing life and death, a daily challenge for its inhabitants. But perhaps it is the most magical: Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island.
