The Galapagos Islands are a mixture of emotions, and today we visited the youngest area of the archipelago. Our first adventure of the day was a visit to Fernandina Island; and a comfortable dry landing at Punta Espinoza was the perfect way to begin our journey.
As soon as we arrived, we found ourselves awe-inspired by the presence of a multitude of marine iguanas that were found covering the lava rock area. The charms of the place were revealed in a magnificent view of a landscape, decorated by a blue sea along with grandiose shield volcanoes.
Further into the trail, nesting flightless cormorants gave us the opportunity to witness one of the best evolutionary examples of this archipelago. Galapagos sea lions and Pacific green sea turtles were part of the highlights found at Punta Espinoza. As soon as we returned to the National Geographic Endeavour, we started navigating to our next destination.
In the afternoon, our exploration continued, with a deep water snorkeling excursion at Punta Vicente Roca. The magnificence of the Galapagos Marine Reserve was exhibited in a delightful display of underwater nature: Pacific green sea turtles swimming by, Galapagos penguins fishing, and reef fishes of different colors enchanted and captivated us.
The next part of exploration was by Zodiac, as we rode along the cliffs of Punta Vicente Roca. The presence of Galapagos penguins on the lava rocks was one of the top highlights of the visit. A landscape decorated with different species of flying sea birds made for a perfect photography moment.
Once we finished our visit, we headed directly towards the Equator line, in order to experience a delightful sunset from the ship’s deck, complete with a wine tasting activity, as the sun set behind the horizon, letting us know that tomorrow our exploration of the Galapagos Islands continues.
