Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Being in this part of the archipelago is like being back in time when the Galápagos was formed million of years ago. Especially Fernandina, being the newest geological formation over the Nazca tectonic plate, gave us an idea of how harsh the colonization of species is in these oceanic islands.
We started our day at the northeast most point of Isabela Island exploring the dramatic coastline of Isabela Island with our early risers from the National Geographic Endeavour. A bit later in the morning we found ourselves crossing the equatorial line with a big celebration that involved King Neptune and his court.
As soon as we arrived to Punta Vicente Roca we started with a Zodiac ride to get a bit closer to the geology and the fauna of this place, which is very impressive by the way. Our final morning activity was in the water to see turtles everywhere. A big group of Galápagos penguins and a few flightless cormorants came to swim with us as well. What a morning we had in this isolated place far away from the central islands!
To finish our day, we disembarked at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island. This place is really a place to see the largest marine iguanas in the archipelago, and to have a close-up view of the flightless cormorants to understand the biological changes needed to succeed in this environment.
Marine iguanas males were bobbing their heads and doing push-ups for the right to copulate with females in their territory. Blue footed boobies, brown pelicans and migratory species gave this place a unique experience of beauty in Galápagos.
On our way back from our expedition, an amazing sunset was displaying itself right behind Fernandina Island as a sign of a good day in a lost paradise.
