Isabela & Fernandina Islands
We woke up just north of Isabela, with Wolf Volcano in a rose-colored light and open ocean around us. Galápagos storm petrels, shearwaters and petrels flew by, with the occasional fur seal flashing through the water on their way home – still seemingly miles away.
The equator line showed up on time after breakfast, and with a light bump we were over and Ecuador Volcano loomed up on our port side. The collapsed volcano was clear, only a third is left, which exposes the inside of what once was the caldera floor. Two magnificent tuff cones on both ends, north and south, frame the remains.
The temperature had dropped from yesterday’s humidity, and the water was green, rich with plankton of all kinds. Zodiac rides took place along the shores of Punta Vicente Roca where penguins were obliging enough to be standing on rocks. Flightless cormorants were seen onshore as well as in the water, interspersed with marine turtle heads popping up now and then.
When the intrepid snorkelers entered the water, we couldn’t see far, which meant when the wildlife showed up, they were in front of our noses – and it seemed they were all there: flightless cormorants, penguins and especially the gentle sea turtles. They continued to graze on algae despite the humans who floated above them and followed their every move with fascination. Such trusting innocence, they rose to the surface to take air at times right underneath us. We had to move out of the way quickly, so as not to interfere with their natural instincts. Everyone needs space. The best I could manage was photographs of body parts – the whole animal in a frame was too far away for clarity. Close-ups of a tail or head worked much better!
The afternoon was spectacular on land at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island. Indentations were all over the sand where the female marine iguanas just recently finished laying eggs. Sea lions were lounging around or playing (the youngsters) in tidal pools, or in one case two large males had a violent but brief fight over territory. The Galápagos hawks were the stars of our visit. One landed on a blue-footed booby onshore minutes after our own landing – a definite kill. Then two adults worked with a juvenile, aerial sparring included, and landed in a bush searching for who-knows-what, when a sea lion sleeping underneath the bush ousted them from their foray – ruffled feathers and all. We will never know what they were after.
The lowering sun polished the sea and reflected silver rays on all. It’s good to be in the west; I feel close to the birth of the archipelago here.
We woke up just north of Isabela, with Wolf Volcano in a rose-colored light and open ocean around us. Galápagos storm petrels, shearwaters and petrels flew by, with the occasional fur seal flashing through the water on their way home – still seemingly miles away.
The equator line showed up on time after breakfast, and with a light bump we were over and Ecuador Volcano loomed up on our port side. The collapsed volcano was clear, only a third is left, which exposes the inside of what once was the caldera floor. Two magnificent tuff cones on both ends, north and south, frame the remains.
The temperature had dropped from yesterday’s humidity, and the water was green, rich with plankton of all kinds. Zodiac rides took place along the shores of Punta Vicente Roca where penguins were obliging enough to be standing on rocks. Flightless cormorants were seen onshore as well as in the water, interspersed with marine turtle heads popping up now and then.
When the intrepid snorkelers entered the water, we couldn’t see far, which meant when the wildlife showed up, they were in front of our noses – and it seemed they were all there: flightless cormorants, penguins and especially the gentle sea turtles. They continued to graze on algae despite the humans who floated above them and followed their every move with fascination. Such trusting innocence, they rose to the surface to take air at times right underneath us. We had to move out of the way quickly, so as not to interfere with their natural instincts. Everyone needs space. The best I could manage was photographs of body parts – the whole animal in a frame was too far away for clarity. Close-ups of a tail or head worked much better!
The afternoon was spectacular on land at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island. Indentations were all over the sand where the female marine iguanas just recently finished laying eggs. Sea lions were lounging around or playing (the youngsters) in tidal pools, or in one case two large males had a violent but brief fight over territory. The Galápagos hawks were the stars of our visit. One landed on a blue-footed booby onshore minutes after our own landing – a definite kill. Then two adults worked with a juvenile, aerial sparring included, and landed in a bush searching for who-knows-what, when a sea lion sleeping underneath the bush ousted them from their foray – ruffled feathers and all. We will never know what they were after.
The lowering sun polished the sea and reflected silver rays on all. It’s good to be in the west; I feel close to the birth of the archipelago here.
