With a very relaxing pre-breakfast hike at Espumilla Bay on Santiago Island, our day started. We had the chance to spot a few blue-footed boobies along the way as we hiked through the very lush vegetation that grows along the beach at this specific time of the year. Then we dipped into the water for snorkel and kayak activities, and we had the chance to appreciate a bunch of geological features at Buccaneer Cove. We enjoyed a wine tasting onboard and a flat terrain hike in Puerto Egas.
9/14/2022
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National Geographic Islander II
Isabela & Fernandina Islands: Vicente Roca Point & Espinoza Point
The misty weather of the dry season covered the sky as our first activities started in the early morning. From the deck, we looked for marine mammals and enjoyed the magnificent volcanic landscape of the northern side of Isabela. We explored Vicente Roca in our Zodiacs as we traveled along the walls. Wildlife is very abundant on this site since the area is an upwelling zone. Marine birds and reptiles were the highlights of the morning. Blue-footed boobies, brown noddy terns, pelicans, Nazca boobies, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, and penguins made our morning special. We then went snorkeling in the same area, an incredible site for sea turtles. In the afternoon, we visited Fernandina, the youngest island. The site is a nesting place for marine iguanas. Here they congregate in big numbers, so they were the stars of the afternoon. We hiked around an uplifted basaltic lava flow, and we spotted flightless cormorants, sea lions, and a beautiful Galapagos hawk. This site offers a view of La Cumbre, the huge volcano on the island. We could also see the volcanoes that form Isabela Island right across the channel. We were lucky to witness activity in one of the volcanoes today!
