Isabela and Fernandina Islands
This morning we woke up while the ship was still travelling. Many of us were up on the outer decks enjoying the spectacular volcanic landscape and searching for marine mammals with our coffee or hot teas in hand. The scenery was breathtaking and the ocean was very calm. After some time with our binoculars in hand all of the sudden a spout came out of the water in the distance and soon our ship, the National Geographic Islander, was directed towards it. We followed the whale for a while at one again we heard its blow but this time the creature was at just few away from the ship! We saw very clearly its fin which helped us to identify it as a Bryde’s or Tropical whale. It is always a happy moment when we see these wonders of the ocean! Whales are likely to seen around these realms because of the cold waters Cromwell Current upwells against Isabela Island.
Our first outing of the day was a Zodiac ride. It was so much fun! We saw several Galapagos penguins standing lava rocks or swimming around. Brown Noddy Terns were seen nesting on the tuff cliffs and even a very curious Giant Sunfish (Mola mola) came right up to our Zodiac. The impressive geological landscape made our ship look like a little boat. We came back onboard and soon got in our snorkeling gear. The water was more than refreshing and then I remembered that we were swimming in penguins’ water! Sea turtles came so close that we could not believe it. We saw a cormorant fishing, turtles sleeping at the bottom and some fortunate ones the incredible sunfish.
The day was not over for in the afternoon we had a dry landing that took us to the pristine island of Fernandina. It was low tide so the tide pools gave us the opportunity to see some Damsel fish and many sea urchins. The highlight of the day was the very large marine iguanas groups found on this place. Most were warming up to be ready to go through the night but others were just coming back from feeding and their tired cold bodies seemed to have just enough energy to make it to shore. The walk took us through a lava cactus field. Huge male sea lions were defending their territories. In some occasions we had to stand still to let a running sea lion pass by as he was chasing by a younger male out. A beautiful sunset told us that our day was completed. We had experienced Nature with all of our senses. We can now go to bed and have dreams of how life is in paradise.
