Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Today is the first day of the year together in Galápagos. We had an incredible day on the western realm of the archipelago. We had a nice warm morning; as we crossed the equator line, we held our “endemic” hand painted line, and got ready for a great Zodiac ride along the coast of Punta Vicente Roca. The coast was covered by male Galápagos marine iguanas displaying their bright colors and their best aggressive behavior, while females looked among these males for the best mate, some males were intensely defending their small piece of lava rock against intruders. We were joined several times by Galápagos sea lions that curiously followed us during our ride, also many male and female sea turtles were spotted resting at the bottom, others pop up their heads for a little air, they disappeared as soon as they saw us. After our ride we went snorkeling and played with sea lions. Some found penguins fishing, or a Galápagos flightless cormorant swimming near by; however the main attraction here was to snorkel with sea turtles, and we did it!
For the afternoon we went on to Fernandina Island, the youngest in the archipelago that was literally covered by marine iguanas, sea lions and several flightless cormorants, some of these cormorants were courting, others were very busy building their nests. We found several Sally Lightfoot crabs covering the black lava flows with their brightly colored shells. A Galápagos hawk was spotted hiding in the mangroves while it looked carefully for its next meal. We finished the first day of the year with a marvelous sunset, just the perfect finale for this special day. Happy New Year everyone!
Today is the first day of the year together in Galápagos. We had an incredible day on the western realm of the archipelago. We had a nice warm morning; as we crossed the equator line, we held our “endemic” hand painted line, and got ready for a great Zodiac ride along the coast of Punta Vicente Roca. The coast was covered by male Galápagos marine iguanas displaying their bright colors and their best aggressive behavior, while females looked among these males for the best mate, some males were intensely defending their small piece of lava rock against intruders. We were joined several times by Galápagos sea lions that curiously followed us during our ride, also many male and female sea turtles were spotted resting at the bottom, others pop up their heads for a little air, they disappeared as soon as they saw us. After our ride we went snorkeling and played with sea lions. Some found penguins fishing, or a Galápagos flightless cormorant swimming near by; however the main attraction here was to snorkel with sea turtles, and we did it!
For the afternoon we went on to Fernandina Island, the youngest in the archipelago that was literally covered by marine iguanas, sea lions and several flightless cormorants, some of these cormorants were courting, others were very busy building their nests. We found several Sally Lightfoot crabs covering the black lava flows with their brightly colored shells. A Galápagos hawk was spotted hiding in the mangroves while it looked carefully for its next meal. We finished the first day of the year with a marvelous sunset, just the perfect finale for this special day. Happy New Year everyone!
