Isabela and Fernandina Islands, 12/7/2022, National Geographic Islander II
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander II
Galápagos
Galapagos is an archipelago formed by more than 300 islands, islets, rocks, and volcanoes. Some of the volcanoes are still active. Every couple of years, we observe volcanic activity.
After an overnight navigation, we woke up in the western part of the Galapagos this morning to look for whales, seabirds, and impressive geology formations.
Walter was born in a very small town on the mainland of Ecuador. His first trip to the Galápagos was when he was 12 years old, visiting friends and aunt, who had moved to the islands. From the first moment he saw the Islands, he fell in love with the...
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San Cristobal Island has the nickname of “Isla Bonita” (Beautiful Island) for a reason. We had an excellent last day of the expedition. The morning was full of excitement by the number of birds we spotted in the area, especially the beautiful red-footed boobies that we saw for the first time. Our day finished with some leisure time at one of the most beautiful beaches in the Galapagos. Cerro Brujo has one of the finest, softest, and whitest sands in the archipelago. Some of our guests went for a stroll along the beach, some went swimming, and we had a stretching session there. It was the perfect way to end this magnificent adventure in the Galapagos.
Española Island is one of the jewels in the crown of the Galapagos Islands. This island is inhabited by countless endemic species that can be observed as you spend some time here. During the morning, we enjoyed the white sandy beach in Gardner Bay, where sea lions were our greeting party and Española mockingbirds were very curious about our visitors. The water was crystal clear, so a deep-water snorkeling took place at Gardner Islet just off the beach. Sea lions swimming with our guests was the highlight! In the afternoon, we put on our hiking boots and explored Punta Suarez, a visitor site with an overwhelming amount of wildlife. Waved albatross, Nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, sea lions and lava lizards were just a few of the species that can we observed here.
Floreana Island is currently in the process of restoring its ecology. This island is very diverse, offering visitors multiple choices of activities, from rich human history to great wildlife walks to amazing underwater explorations. We also found the very old postal system from whaling times and the only one that still uses the honor system. Today, visitors to Post Office Bay can participate in this old tradition of leaving a post card or taking a post card for hand delivery. In the afternoon we enjoyed great snorkeling, watching sea turtles, sea lions, rays, and many species of fish. To end our day on Floreana, we visited Cormorant Point, a place with diverse wildlife. This offered great opportunities for photography with the backdrop of the beautiful scenery.
