Isabela & Fernandina
What a wonderful day we had today!
Early in the morning we found ourselves in the northwestern part of the archipelago, headed for Punta Vicente Roca. Our optional wakeup call allowed us to enjoy cetaceans like common dolphins as the sun started to rise from the horizon to welcome calm seas. A lot of bird activities were also our companions as we crossed the equator to the southern hemisphere. Our Deity King Neptune Rex visited us, very upset, demanding a sacrifice for crossing the equator without his permission and, sure enough, parents were willing to surrender their children for our “shark infested pool.”
Our Zodiacs were deployed to cover a large distance and for us to access a very irregular shoreline which holds an impressive amount of creatures like Galápagos penguins, flightless cormorants, blue footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigate birds, brown pelicans, noddy terns and many different kinds of fish like the enigmatic ocean sunfish also known as Mola mola. We also saw reptiles like green pacific turtles and iguanas.
Today was turtle day! These gentle reptiles coexist while feeding on algae, and we were simply impressed by their beauty. All this under a majestic half of a volcano called Ecuador, more than 1000 feet tall with many volcanic features and colors.
Soon after, our Captain repositioned the ship. Our next visitor site was Fernandina Island, which waited for us in low tide and so totally exposed. This is our most precious island of all; here we have a single visitor site. Marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and of course our ever present friend the sea lions were seen over brand new lava flows frozen in time for us to walk on.
It was a day with many surprises and adventures and today our guests are sharing experiences. We simply cannot wait for tomorrow. Our expedition continues back to the central part of the archipelago, surrounded by tranquility and uniqueness. These are the Galápagos Islands.
