Today our guest explored the westernmost realm of the Galapagos. During the morning, guests landed and snorkeled at Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island. The highlights of the morning were the countless Galapagos marine iguanas that basked along the shoreline as our guests explored the island. While snorkeling, our guests observed Galapagos marine iguanas and green sea turtles feeding on seaweed over the rocks. For the afternoon, everybody went on panga rides to experience Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island. This site offers an impressive view of a collapsed volcano. The rocky cliffs provide shelter for Galapagos fur seals and are a good perch for seabirds like blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, brown noddy terns, flightless cormorants, and Galapagos penguins.
9/20/2023
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Santa Cruz Island
This morning, we explored the northern side of Santa Cruz Island, and our first outing took us to see the Galapagos dragons. This land iguana inhabits the palo santo dry forest. As soon as we disembarked, marine iguanas greeted us as they sunbathed on the Sesuvium carpetweed found along the shoreline. We walked along the trail and found a brackish water lagoon that is usually visited by birds like white-cheeked pintail ducks, black-necked stilts, and sometimes flamingos. Later, we passed through the dry forest of palo santo and breathed in its fragrant aroma as we headed to observe the eroded volcanic ash on the trail. Land iguanas are endemic to this archipelago and can be found nesting in the area or just relaxing under a prickly pear cactus tree. We saw a spectacular number of iguanas, counting twenty during our walk. The bright colors of the iguanas make them a very exciting sight, which our guests enjoyed very much. Later in the afternoon, our younger explorers took Zodiac driving lessons in the company of their parents and a naturalist guide. It was the highlight of the day for them. The rest of our guests opted between getting some exercise while kayaking along the shoreline of Borrero Bay or simply took it slower and joined a Zodiac tour in the area. During the afternoon, we observed big flocks of blue-footed boobies, which are not often seen in high numbers. We also observed brown pelicans, striated herons, baby blacktip sharks, a small eagle ray, and lava gulls. We ended our day by enjoying a glass of wine while circumnavigating Daphne Major and observing the stunning sunset.
