After a good night's sleep and breakfast we headed to the newest of the Galapagos islands; Fernandina. Iguanas, iguanas and more iguanas. Although there were a few of the smaller lava ones, most were the marine ones, seemed like billions and billions of them, many of them quite large. They are the largest in the archipelago due to the plentiful food supply from the nearby currents. We also saw some " honu" feeding by the shore along with flightless cormorant birds and the Galapagos hawk. But everywhere we turned there were marine iguanas and we were even able to see their nesting site. If I did not know better I would have thought they were aliens preparing for an earth invasion. Time to relax on board before and after what turned out to be an excellent Ecuadorian lunch of shrimp cevici with popcorn fried bananas and tree tomatoes, yumm. We have a busy afternoon ahead; snorkel, panga ride and a hike. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see the Galapagos penguin. The camera story continues- worked last night not this morning and by lunch with a strong shot of hot hair dryer air it seems it is struggling to recover, so we will cross our fingers for the next snorkel.
It turned out to be another great snorkel, even with a misty rain the entire time. Lots of marine life including a few marine iguanas feeding in the water (check out the video), sea turtles, colorful fish and a Galapagos penguin watching us from a ledge. The highlight had to be the golden rays; first there were 2 in formation, which was pretty cool, but that was just the teaser as right behind them was a whole school, at least 20 all together- WOW!
Back on board for a quick change in preparation for a panga ride(still raining) and a short hike,yes,in the rain. More Galapagos penguins, blue footed boobies, cormorant and a sea turtle. Are we just getting immune to all this wildlife; I hope not but think it might be so. Need to really enjoy these last days of unique animals and not take them for granted.
The hike was optional and many chose not to go ( including Bonnie); they missed nothing. Two hundred meters up in the rain to see Darwin Lake- no life due to it's high salinity from the surrounding soil; 3x ocean salinity. Back to the ship for an ice cream treat and a nap before dinner. Only downer is the underwater camera is still non- functional and my plan B with Sheryl's old camera and a waterproof bag is a kludge at best and I don't really have much of a way to see if the videos are even working. After dinner we had a short celebration for crossing the equator and I welcomed all the Aussies to our hemisphere. Tommorow looks like another great day with a hike up Bartholome to see the pinnacle rock view, probably the most famous view in the Galapagos islands, followed by another snorkel and then a panga ride at black turtle cove. It's 10pm and I am beat from both fighting this cold and one of our busier days on board. Off to sleep and looking forward to our last full day in this unique place.
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