Good Morning everybody. Today we are going to the Island of Fernandina. It will be a dry landing so please bring with you ….yes yes yes….we know Roberto … we have our sun hat, sun screen, insect repellent, tevas or flipflops, camera and our smiiiiile!
Fernandina was simply stunning. The most beautiful so far and completely uninhabited - unlike Isabela which has pockets of people living on it.
The coastline was really beautiful; azure sea, big rolling waves. Perfect!
When we landed in the dingies, just about everywhere we looked were iguanas. Marine iguanas these ones and they were in the trees, on the ground, on the rocks, in the sea. Everywhere there were piles of them and they stank.
Maybe the island isn't so perfect after all!
just the cutest
As well as the iguanas there were sea lions here. Lots and lots of them and mostly all babies. Oh my goodness just how cute can a baby sea lion be? They were adorable and the temptation to pet one was overwhelming. However we knew the consequences could be fatal for the baby sea lion so we all kept our 2 metres distance. The sea lions don’t help though when their curiosity of us brings them very close. One even waddled straight through a group of us.
This is one of the first times we have seen more than one other group whilst we have been on an island. We are not really overcrwded though as we are all small groups of about 15 people.
We had a really lovely walk for a bout 2 hours. Roberto pointing out all the flora and fauna again and telling us there would be a test on the Latin names at the end of the cruise. This man is such a fountain of knowledge and can make anything sound so exciting – even the smallest plant – when he describes it journey, it’s struggle or it’s place in the eco system of Galapagos.
We are learning more about him now. He used to be a science teacher (that explains his memory for all the Latin) and we can just picture what an inspiring teacher he must have been. He became a school principal but hated all the paperwork and politics so became a tour guide. He started off in the Amazon but hated the spiders – something Jody can really relate to – so came to Galapagos where he is in his element. He just beams with enthusiasm every day and he is very much in his natural job. We think he is great.
If you don’t believe us – listen to a bit of him here the 3rd clip is especially funny and most typical of Roberto.
We had just half an hour back on the Anahi before it was snorkel time again. The sea is a decent temperature here averaging about 24-28°C but it still feels cold when you first get in.
Tha Anahi provides all the snorkelling gear for us and we like the way that once you have found flippers and snorkel gear to fit you, they are very organised and keep it together for you. This way you use the same equipment for each and every snorkel after that.
Captain Jody
A shower and nice lunch again then the Anahi sailed again and took us to a different part of Isabela Island. Jody decided rather than the usual afternoon nap she was going to go all around the boat and take some pictures. She got as far as the Captain on the bridge when he gave her the wheel and told her to "steer at 310° and just keep it there.
She would like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone who was trying to sleep at this point. The sea was quite choppy and we were going quite fast. The waves acted like speed bumps and she didn’t slow down for them. I doubt anyone got any snoozing done today. Bryan found her an hour later still chatting to Captain Tony in a kind of Spa-nglish. It’s the only way to learn right? Not sure how much use you will have for the word whale in everyday language however!
Dena had joined the bridge for a bit too and she also took her turn at the wheel. Dena is living in Bolivia at the moment with her family whilst they do some voluntary work. Her Spanish is much better than ours so she can have proper conversations.
We arrived at our next destination where there was a massive cave. We went snorkelling around this area and the sea was just brilliant here. Almost immediately we saw a turtle, then penguins, pelicans, millions of beautiful fish, a big ray and sharks. We think just a whale was missing from the list!
inside the cave
We were reluctant to get out of the water here but we must. First back on board for more delicious snacks and drinks (always hot chocolate when we have been in the water) and a shower. This is the 3rd time we have washed our hair today we are surprised it isn’t falling!
Back in the dingies again and this time a boat ride into the cave. We saw more pelicans, penguins, flightless cormorants and Blue Footed Boobies. And one of the most interesting things we saw was a pebble in the cliff face. How do you suppose it got there?
Roberto knows of course and we did see a poster explaining it when we were at the Charles Darwin Centre last week.
You would have thought we had done enough for one day but no. We were only back on the Anahi for about 30 minutes when Roberto announced that we would be crossing the equator heading into the northern hemisphere. Captain Tony was holding a party on the bridge where we could all watch the GPS go to 0’0’0’. A cocktail would be included.
Well we didn’t need asking twice!
There was a really great atmosphere on the bridge and we did have a bit of a party accompanied by some cheering. And we toasted being back in the north!
Here comes the equator
It was an early dinner tonight as the sailing was going to be a bit rough and the crew wanted to make an early start on it. Earlier we start off the quicker we will get there and the more sleep we will have. Sounds like a good plan.
This means we all had a bit of extra chatting time after dinner. It was too early to go straight to bed so it was really nice to spend more time chatting without the distractions of cute baby sea lions.
Francis is from Chile and was sharing his photos from home as we told him we were going there. Wow what a place it looks. He has got us all fired up and excited about going there now and we haven’t even left Galapagos.
One country at a time please but we will make it there – and thanks to Francis we have a route and a plan now too :-)
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Fernandina, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
