Isabela & Fernandina Islands
The westernmost side of the Galápagos Islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are the youngest of them all, being only a couple hundred kilometers away from the hot spot. This part of the archipelago remains volcanically active, having eruptions constantly. As we get over the "head of the sea horse" that best describes the northern part of Isabela, we can easily distinguish the shield shaped volcanoes that make oceanic islands. It is today that we begin to make sense and understand how geological time has shaped this particular archipelago; being able to see the physical differences between old and new islands fit in our heads just like a puzzle.
In addition, the productivity of the water in the area is explained by the abundance of nutrients that are brought by the counter current of Cromwell that hits the very base of the two islands and up-wells to the surface. The up-welling is responsible for the abundance of marine wildlife found near Isabela and Fernandina; from here, the nutrient-rich waters spread into the central part of the archipelago.
Tropical whales made an appearance during sunrise at Roca Redonda at six o’clock in the morning, and we had many of our guests up enjoying the show. The light at this time of the day, together with the volcanic landscape, filled us with equatorial energy for the rest of the day.
Snorkeling was again a unique opportunity. Having the chance to snorkel with the Pacific green sea turtles that inhabit Punta Vicente Roca in Isabela was probably one of the greatest experiences of the week. The tameness of these creatures was contagious and made us all relax and enjoy the water activity to its fullest.
Fernandina in the afternoon welcomed us with a mass of marine iguanas at the landing jetty. The iguanas in Punta Suarez are known as the giant marine iguanas of Galápagos; again their incredible sizes are due to the abundance of algae found. The iguanas had been nesting here on this point, so we needed to be extremely careful not to walk on hundreds of nest that were every where we looked. A few snakes were waiting for the hatchlings that will start to hatch from these nests pretty soon.
A walk over lava transported us back in time; lava cactuses colonizing the bare lava flows and making the very first fertile soils so other species of vegetation can eventually be successful showed us the fragility of these ecosystems that should be protected for all future generations.
