Isabela & Fernandina Islands
When I headed to the bridge this morning at 0545 the ocean was smooth calm, the eastern sky blushed pink and a few common dolphins were leaping and feeding off our bow. I did not hesitate long before calling our guests – earlier even than scheduled – to join me on decks. As the sun rose, the clouds brightened from pink to a fiery orange, and no one was the least bit annoyed that I woke them up early! For the next hour we enjoyed hundreds of common dolphins leaping and splashing in the early morning light. The green slopes of Volcan Wolf on Northern Isabela to our port side, the tallest of the Galápagos volcanoes, rose 5600 feet from the sea.
Following a hearty breakfast we all returned to the bridge, blew the ship’s whistle and did the limbo on the bow in celebration of crossing from the northern into the southern hemisphere. We dropped anchor below the steep cliffs at Punta Vicente Roca and the crew lowered our fleet of Zodiacs. For the next hour and a half we explored the rugged, varied and lovely coastline by Zodiac. We censused sea turtles and watched plunge-diving blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas grazing on green algae, and flightless cormorants - clumsy on land but graceful and fast in the water. Some of us even found a Mola mola (pelagic sunfish)!
Our next activity was snorkeling and this too was absolutely fabulous! The water was warm and clear, and we saw over two dozen sea turtles, a white-tip reef shark, penguins and cormorants feeding and at least a dozen species of schooling fish. We were reluctant to get out of the water, but hunger finally provided the incentive, and we all headed back to the ship for lunch.
Our hike on the barren lava flows and volcanic sands at Punta Espinoza, Fernandina started as the afternoon began to cool off. We landed in a mangrove forest and immediately discovered piles of marine iguanas. A lava lizard was perched on one iguana’s head; an excellent spot from which to catch flies. We had a close look at the chocolate brown Galápagos hawk, the island’s top terrestrial predator. Besides taking live prey and feeding on anything from grasshoppers to sea birds and iguanas, these hawks are also carrion feeders (after all, we have no vultures in Galápagos). Flightless cormorants were nesting, a snake stalked hatchling iguanas among the adults, and the ubiquitous Sally-light foot crabs and fearless sea lions entertained us as we explored the point.
Back at the ship as the sun set in an orange glow, some of us dove into the cool waters for another swim and others joined barman Erwin on the Sky Deck for a drink. A palpable serenity and peacefulness settled on us all. We could see no other ship. No one was anchored in the area except for us. The islands so obviously belong to the wild and unusual creatures that have adapted to life here; we are the privileged visitors!
