On our second day of expedition on board National Geographic Gemini, we explored the western area of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, Isabela and Fernandina Islands. We started early in the morning with a hike along the nested volcanic tuff cones of Tagus Cove, where we came across several endemic species of the Galapagos, including the flightless cormorant, Galapagos penguins, ground finches, lava lizards, and pelicans. After exploring this astonishing landscape of pyroclastic cones, we got our wetsuits and fins on and jumped into the water where a family of penguins decided to play with us for more than 10 minutes.
At midday, our guests learned about smartphone photography with photo instructor Jose Guerrero Vela, then, enjoyed a delicious Ecuadorean lunch. Later in the afternoon, we had our second snorkeling of the day on the rocky shores of Fernandina Island where more than a hundred sea turtles and a large number of marine iguanas grazed gracefully on the green algae. After this we quickly got changed and went back to our Zodiacs to visit our last destination of the day, Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island. We were literally surrounded by marine iguanas, snakes, cormorants, blue-footed boobies, and sea lions. Back on board, there was a special feeling of friendship and shared excitement of all the beautiful experiences we’ve had exploring the Galapagos Archipelago.
