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| Steve with a sea lion |
Breakfast at 7 am included eggs sunny side up, yucca patties with cheese, the usual fresh fruits, and juice made from tree tomatoes. We had a little time to prepare for our walk on Fernandina Island at 8 am. We boarded the pangas for the short ride to Fernandina where we had a dry landing at Punta Espinoza and walked along designated paths along the beach. Areas were marked as prohibiting foot traffic since marine iguanas use the area as nesting sites. We saw hundreds of marine iguanas and even more lava lizards. Three Galápagos hawks roosted in a tree near us. There were numerous sea lions in the area, many with very small pups. We saw many Sally Lightfoot crabs including a mating pair. As we walked about 1.5 kilometers on the trail, we even saw a Galápagos racer.
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| Green sea turtle at Punta Espinoza |
Much of this island is covered with the rope-like “pa hoe hoe” lava on which nearly no vegetation exists. There were broad sandy beaches from the ground volcanic rock in the area. These sandy areas are perfect for iguanas, turtles, and other animals to nest, so we had to avoid those areas. Most of the island’s perimeter is surrounded by mangrove trees except there the lava flow killed the vegetation.
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| Sea lion at Punta Espinoza |
After nearly 90 minutes we boarded the pangas and returned the Galaxy where we put our wetsuits on and snorkeled around Fernandina Island. Like the previous time, we snorkeled in shallow areas that are protected from the highest waves. The calmer areas tend to attract more wildlife than areas with higher waves and had more visibility. We saw fish of all sizes and species as well as green sea turtles, sea urchins, and one very playful sea lion. This young pinniped seemed persistent in getting us to romp. While taking snapshots with my underwater camera. The sea lion came right at me appearing want to bite the camera. I tried to photograph the animal, but it was too fast for me in the water. There were a number of 5–6-foot white tip reef sharks in the area, but they (fortunately) had no interest in us.
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| Mary preparing to snorkel |
We snorkeled for about 40 minutes when returned to the Zodiac panga to carry us to the Galaxy Yacht. Lunch was waiting on us when we arrived, and it was delicious as expected. Choices included shredded beef, pork frittata, cooked sweet plantains, roasted beets, and hominy that was fried with eggs.
After lunch the Galaxy moved north along Isabela crossing the equator. Mark and I lounged on the sun deck while Mary and Cindy played cribbage. It was nice to have some time on the ship to relax a bit.
Just before crossing the Equator, the captain brought everyone into the bridge to see how the ship operates and to observe crossing the equator. The ocean was churning heavily, and I started feeling uneasy, so I put a fresh scopolamine patch behind the other ear, and it seemed to kick in soon. In addition, the ocean has calmed just a little.
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| Blue-footed boobies |
Around 4 pm, we boarded the pangas to cruise to Albemarle Point at the northern tip of Isabela. We saw a great deal of wildlife up close including blue footed boobies, sea lions, marine iguanas, black tip sharks, while tip sharks, and eagle rays. As we were leaving, we sighted whimbrel birds perched on a lava block.
We had a little time before dinner when the Willo and the crew usually do a debriefing. This evening the crew dressed up as pirates and danced around the lounge. Willo had us play a charades game to earn our certificates for crossing the equator. Each of us had to portray an animal that we saw in the Galapagos. Mary did an octopus very well and earned her certificate. My assignment was a pelican.
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| Mary's pelican impression |
Dinner was choice of chicken or fish with rice and vegetables on the side. We sat with Meko, Lorna, John and Joan enjoying the conversation.
As we went to bed, the boat was rocking making walking around very difficult. However, the ride seemed to smooth out as we moved around Isabela Island.
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