We navigated all night under the stars, before arriving to the western region, the most remote of the archipelago. The magnificent silhouettes of the young volcanos of Fernandina and Isabela surrounded us. Fernandina is the youngest island in Galapagos, and its last volcanic event was only a few months ago.
In the morning, we visited Punta Espinoza, located east of Fernandina Island. This is one of the last pristine places on earth, it is full of life, with one of the highest densities of marine iguanas in the archipelago. We also spotted the Galapagos flightless cormorant. This is a rather large bird with very short wings, an expert diver that feeds on fish, octopus and eels.
In the afternoon, we had a Zodiac ride along the coast of Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island, where we saw blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galapagos sea lions, marine iguanas, Galapagos penguins, Pacific green sea turtles, sharks and brown noddies. Later on and with the sunset, we celebrated the crossing of the Equator line onboard our ship, tasting some wine and looking at the sunset. Great finale! This has certainly been an unforgettable day in paradise cruising with National Geographic Endeavour II.
