Isabela and Fernandina Islands
Our day began early in the morning, sailing along the northern hemisphere with the impressive landscape of the Ecuador volcano and at the distance Roca Redonda, a flat islet growing in the middle of the ocean. After breakfast our guests visited the bridge, observing as little by little the GPS was changing the coordinates, until finally our captain blew the horn telling us we crossed the Equator to the Southern Hemisphere.
Our first activity began with a Zodiac cruise along the coastline of Punta Vicente Roca at Isabela Island; the geology observed was impressive, with lava dikes, lava incrustations and compacted ash giving us a very colorful landscape. We observed Galápagos penguins on the rocks drying their wings; beside a group of flightless cormorants that were collecting seaweeds to make nests; probably the most incredible attraction were sea turtles and mola mola (the oceanic sunfish) swimming indifferently around our Zodiacs. Afterwards, we went back to the Zodiacs, but this time with our the snorkeling gear; as soon we began to swim, we observed another mola mola swimming next to us; our guests could swim and observe this magnificent and strange fish, but this time face to face from the water.
In the afternoon, we arrived at the youngest island in the archipelago; at the distance, Fernandina looked barren and black; but when we arrived at the landing area our first impression of the island changed completely due to the exuberant flora and fauna we observed. Huge marine iguanas posed in sun basking positions and lava lizards displayed their beautiful color and did push-ups to warn us that we were in their territory. We crossed black lava fields, with some collapsed parts due to many lava tubes beneath connected with the ocean, forming real oasis of water inland with abundant mangroves growing as if they were along the seashore. On the top of them we observed Galápagos hawks, waiting for a good opportunity to catch an iguana or a lizard.
In the distance we heard a sea lion barking furiously. Approaching it, we understood the reason for its behavior; a young male sea lion was swimming close to his territory. After few seconds we witnessed a battle in front of us, the older bit the neck of the opponent, which had to escape by swimming faster and then running along the beach just beside us. The tide was low when we finished our visit, so we had to take the Zodiacs from the rocks to go back to the National Geographic Islander, our home during this amazing week.
