The National Geographic Islander continues its voyage around the Galapagos Islands. This time it navigated to the western part of the Archipelago.
During the morning we visited a place on the Island of Isabela called Punta Vicente Roca. Here the landscape took the word dramatic to a whole different level. Half of the volcano, which is named Ecuador, has collapsed giving an incredible view of what it looks like inside. So first thing we did when we arrived was to use the Zodiacs to explore the coast of this place to find iguanas, cormorants, boobies and an unbelievable encounter with Orcas! Also we used this same location for snorkeling. The water was cold, but the reward would not disappoint. Plenty of fish, penguins, turtles, cormorants and sea lions were the entertainment this morning.
Once everyone came back to the boat we lifted the anchor and navigated to Fernandina Island to a place called Punta Espinoza. The name given to this place is because of the thousands of marine iguanas that can be found on the coast. As we arrived with the low tide, there were plenty of animals trapped in these tidal pools. We observed sea turtles, iguanas, eagle rays and sting rays. Also we found a species that is very hard to find, the Flightless cormorant and this time they were breeding. We saw some of the babies that were being protected by their parents. We could also see how the lava flows that recently came and formed this area are colonized by pioneer species of plants, both fresh and sea water.
Today was a very exciting, unusual day in the Galapagos. Starting from very early until the sun set behind La Cumbre volcano. All of this and it is only the third day of expedition.
