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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On the last full day of our expedition, National Geographic Islander II took us to San Cristobal Island. This is one of the few places where the three species of boobies can be seen in the same outing. We climbed Mount Pitt in the morning. The area is very dry and to observe all these species in their natural habitat is such a great experience for our guests. To add to this, the landscape is just exceptional. As we came back to the beach, a small group of Galapagos sea lions were there to greet us. The most heart-warming were a female and her pup that were peacefully resting on the shoreline. In the afternoon, we disembarked at Cerro Brujo for our last experience at sea during this expedition. This place is perfect for relaxing, swimming, and taking some last few photographs of sea lions, which can never be can too many! To end this voyage, we enjoyed the sunset while circumnavigating around one of the most famous landmarks on San Cristobal, Kicker Rock.
Today, we visited Española Islan; what a wonderful place on earth! We set foot on the gorgeous white sand of Gardner Beach with turquoise waters and enjoyed the company of Galapagos sea lions and curious Española mockingbirds! Kayaks were deployed together with our glass-bottom Zodiac to get closer to the underwater world of this unique Archipelago. The afternoon took us to Punta Suarez, a highlight of our expedition. We got to see baby Galapagos sea lions, colorful marine iguanas, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, the waved albatross, swallow-tailed gulls, Galapagos hawks, Darwin finches, Galapagos doves. All the animals shared their home with us, a gift from nature and a feeling that will last a lifetime!
Today we explored the mysterious and noble island of Floreana, the historic capital of the Galapagos Island province and home to the first settlers. This island has been eroding for over a million years. It is home to Post Office Bay, location of the oldest postal system in South America. We visited the famous barrel to send “stamp-less” postcards. Some guests took the opportunity to paddle around the area in kayaks, and we concluded the morning with an awesome snorkel. To finish our day, we visited Cormorant Point, a visitor’s site with a flamingo population.
