Galápagos : Isla Fernandina

Fernandina is the third largest island in the archipelago and the youngest of all islands at 700,000 years old (the oldest island is Española at 3.5 million years old). It is an active shield volcano, with the last eruption in 2009. Fernandina is the only Galápagos island which has no introduced mammals - all plants and animals had arrived naturally or evolved over time. It is famous for its large colonies of marine iguanas and as the habitat of unique species like the flightless cormorant, Galápagos hawk and Galápagos snake. (Source: Parque Nacional Galápagos)

Few boats visit Fernandina and it has only 1 visitor site - Punta Espinoza, where we started the day with a walk. During our short 3 minute dinghy ride, we saw 2 blue-footed boobies dive into the sea for fish, a large turtle and a ray swimming in the waters. A marine iguana colony and a sea lion awaited us on the lava rock and jetty respectively as we approached. There were so many things to follow!

Zzzzzzzz

The marine iguana colonies were spread out on lava rocks next to the water and on a sandy beach near their nesting area, basking in the sun impassively. As we made our way on the lava rocks, we had to watch out for the dark reptiles in case we stepped on them. It was a curious sight as most did not seem to mind being part of a pyramid, with 2 or more iguanas stacked on top of each other. Dominant males, however, could be seen nodding their heads consistently and bullying others into giving  clearance space around them.

Marine iguana colony sunning

Facing the dangerous sea

Volcan la Cumbre and marine iguanas

You are in my space!

Next to the sea, there are tide pools which allow baby and juvenile sea lions play in safe haven.

Video: Juvenile sea lions at play

Nearby, we watched a female sea lion being driven crazy by flies. We learnt that flies had recently caused serious issues to sea lions' eyes. 

Video: Sea lion irritated by flies

Flies on sea lion while it bit a mangrove stem

       Video: Infant sea lion calling out to mum

Further away, we watched the unique flightless cormorants trying to mate (the males were trying) and nesting. The males would bring back presents such as seaweed and anything found from the sea to court the females. Native to the Galápagos, it is the only type of cormorant that has lost the ability to fly (its wings have evolved and shrunk to one third the size required to fly) in order to effectively dive in the sea. 

Male flightless cormorant drying its tatty wing
while female is nesting

Our favourite sea lions stole the thunder from the romantic male cormorants as they interrupted Martha's presentation again:

Video: Sea lions went to sea

as male cormorant brought back present

and again:

Too funny!

My greatest find in Galápagos - I spotted a Fernandina snake as it swiftly made its way into a hole in the lava rocks. It was at least 1m - brilliant!

Fernandina snake

The Fernandina Island also has the lava cacti, usually one of the first plants to colonise lava fields. The younger spines are yellow/greenish and turn grey and black as they age.

Lava cactus

We finally saw the Galápagos hawk, a vulnerable resident of the island, with only 130 known breeding sites. It rounded up a great morning.

Galápagos snake

Galápagos : Isla Marchena

When Keith and I was at the agent's office earlier to make the final payment for the cruise, we met M/S Samba's owner, Catalina, by accident. We discussed about the route and she told us a story about how a long time ago (before the shipping routes were regularised), her family was stranded on Marchena Island for 1 week. When the regulation process started, Catalina's son remembered the island so fondly that he applied for the permit to sail to the island. According to Catalina, M/S Samba is the only boat authorised to go to the island.

Bottle-nosed dolphins next to our dinghies
Photo credit: Sari

It was supposed to be a great day since we had an auspicious start. Bottle-nosed dolphins met us and swam along with our boat as we were about to start our snorkelling activity. When we transferred to the dinghies, they swam under our dinghies and rode the waves with us, sometimes whipping their tails against the water. Alas we, humans, were not fast enough to give them the thrill - as soon as we located a pod and went into the water, they played for a while and swam off. We snorkelled for a while and jumped back onto the dinghies and looked for the pods. We chased the dolphins down, they followed and teased us. We jumped into the water and the whole process continued again. 

Meanwhile, we saw a hammerhead shark which Martha did not think we would see (the night before, during our nightly briefing, someone had asked about the possibility of sighting a hammerhead and she told us that the shark would not be in these waters). There were huge schools of fishes and even a spotted eagle ray in the deep water. 

Spotted eagle ray
Photo credit: Sari

Everything was fantastic except that the waves were very strong. So much for a great start - after an hour in the water, I climbed back into the dinghy and spewed for the first time that morning. Soon, more people returned to the dinghy and the captain sent the first dinghy back while the rest continued snorkelling. As soon as I boarded M/S Samba, I spewed for the second time from the deck, this time with more vigour. I struggled out of my wetsuit and after a hot shower, I took a motion sickness pill that would supposedly prevent further vomiting and motion sickness. 1 second later, I threw everything, including my whole gut, out. 

I took a nap and managed to force myself to take a light lunch (and miraculously kept the food in) and stayed upright until when went for a second round of snorkelling. This time, we snorkelled in a sheltered lake (= calm waters!) on Marchena Island.

Lake on Marchena Island

I was so glad to step on solid land. My decision to snorkel instead of sitting out was great. While I saw solo parrotfishes the day before, there were big schools of blue chin parrotfishes in the lake on Marchena Island.

Blue chin parrotfish
Photo credit: Sari

Panama sergeant major
Photo credit: Sari

Krisztina alerted us to a guineafowl puffer, which usually resides in rocky shore and coral areas. I also saw the juvenile guineafowl puffer which was bright yellow and looked nothing like the adult.

Guineafowl puffer
Photo credit: Sari

Reef cornetfish
Photo credit: Sari

Photo credit: Sari

A Galápagos sea lion swam passed me, catching me by surprise. We swam around the lake to where these sea lions were based. Sari swam like a one and managed to take some amazing pictures:

After the snorkel in the afternoon, I felt so much better.

Bernhard, Jana, Leila
Photo credit: Keith

Galápagos : Isla Genovesa

We sailed north overnight to Genovesa Island, one of the most isolated islands in Galápagos. The island is home to a large number of seabirds and the biggest colony of red-footed boobies. We had the enviable task of trying to identify the abundant species of birds and selecting which of the birds to our left, our right, above our heads and next to our feet to observe. 

We headed out at 7am to Darwin's Bay for a 1.5km trek on coral sand and slabs of lava. A juvenile sea lion was curled up on the beach when we arrived:

Juvenile sea lion

Galapagos doves were searching for food while the juvenile swallow-tailed gulls were whining very loudly for more food.

Galápagos dove

Swallow-tailed gulls 
L: juvenile R: adult

Adult with very conspicuous fleshy red eye rim
and white tip on bill

From the beach, a path led us through the colonies of red-footed boobies and we quickly learnt that in the case of birds, the infants can look different from the juveniles which also differ from the adults. The females and males of the same species could also look different. 

Red-footed booby

Infant red-footed booby snuggled against mummy

An awkward looking juvenile red-footed booby
which is losing its white feather

We had to keep at least 2 feet from the wildlife but the birds just stopped next to our path:

Sari with juvenile Great frigatebird

Sometimes, the curiosity of the birds got the better of them:

Is this food?

The trail led us to lava rocks and a small lagoon, where we saw more birds such as herons: 

Not far away, next to a cliff, juvenile frigatebirds learnt to fly:

On cliff at Genovesa Island
Photo credit: Martha

After the walk, we went snorkelling at Darwin's Bay. This was my first snorkelling attempt and given my 'love' for water, I was really tensed. It was nothing I had imagined snorkelling to be - I was given a life vest over my full wetsuit and a bodyguard in the form of Captain José. We slipped into the water from our dinghies and the water was not as shallow (it was at least 3m - help!) and calm as I thought it would be. The water was clear, not too cold and there were fishes everywhere. It was a really beautiful sight - colourful fishes in green water. There were cortez rainbow wrasse, moorish idol, blue chin parrotfish, Meyer's butterfly fish...

Sharks
Photo credit: Sari

Whitetip reef shark
Photo credit: Sari

Blue chin parrotfish
Photo credit: Sari

Photo credit: Sari

When Martha have assessed that we could snorkel independently, she moved us to the deeper waters next to the cliffs. The life vest was not comfortable to swim in but I supposed it gave Captain the assurance that I would be fine even if I struggled. After the snorkel, everyone was excited and supportive and told me not to have too much expectations from future snorkels because I have been spoilt.

After lunch, some of us went kayaking along the cliffs while others snoozed.

In the afternoon, we set off in the dinghies to observe the cliffs. 

The yellow-crowned night-herons hid in the nooks while marine iguanas and crabs scaled the cliffs. The cactus finches hopped about the prickly pear cacti. Birds flew above our heads.

Sea lion and yellow-crowned night-heron

The poor sea lion has a deep scar across its right eye and face

We landed on natural rockfalls, named the Prince Philips' Steps (the Duke visited in 1965) and made our way up to colonies of red-footed boobies and Nazca boobies.

Prince Philips' Steps

Red-footed booby

It was the breeding season for Nazca boobies when we visited Genovesa Island and we observed their mating routines:

2 eggs were laid each time, with the stronger chick killing the weaker one when they hatch - the cruel truth of "the strongest survive".  

Video: Nazca booby nesting while hatching eggs

We also saw the short-eared owl which also testified to Darwin's revolution theory. Due to the lack of predators in the Genovesa Island, the short-eared owl no longer had to feed nocturnally and is active during the day.

Short-eared owl

We left the island as the sun began to set.

Galápagos : Ready to Samba

M/S Samba, a 46-year old, 78 feet sail boat

I had signed up for an 8-day "Pristine and born of fire" trip, which covered the North and Western Galápagos islands on board M/S Samba.  

We sailed with our naturalist guide Martha, who had more than 15 years of experience and Captain José and his wonderful crew of 5 who took care of our every need and safety and fed us very well.

Route
Source: Martha Chica, Samba

Standing (from left): Martha, El Capitán José, Ricardo, Enjal, Chef Enjal, Sefriedo, Keith
Sitting (from left): Jana (partly hidden), Michal, Ruslan, Adam (in red), Shani, Krisztina, Jack, Leila, Joe (in white), Bernhard (in grey), Jenny (in white), Sari (in black), Bryan 

I met our guide and the rest of the passengers at the Baltra airport and made our introductions. We had a diverse group from Austria, Czech Republic, England, Israel, Switzerland and the United States of America. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of everyone (including the crew) on the boat and we got on very well over the next few days, learning about each other's countries, profession and travels. Special thanks to Sari for allowing me to use her underwater shots for my next few blog entries - they have been invaluable.

Our first stop was Playa Las Bachas, a beach located at the northern part of Santa Cruz Island. Out boat stopped off the coast and we transferred into 2 dinghies to get to the beach. A black tip reef shark was first to greet us in the water.

Sally lightfoot crabs littered the black lava rocks by the beach. The adults are red and turquoise blue while the juveniles are black (for camouflage).

Sally lightfoot crab

From the beach, we approached a pond where migratory flamingos could be found. We also saw the ruddy turnstone, black-necked stilts and a marine iguana.

Greater flamingo

Great blue heron

We strolled down the beach as a brown pelican flew close over our head and then dived into the water with common noddies in tow, trying to steal its food. 

Video: Pelican and noddies

Eagle rays swam near the shore and wrapped up our short, but meaningful day.

Eagle ray

First sunset on the boat