At the north side of Isla Fernandina is Espinoza Point. This is where we found ourselves the next day. Landing sites in Galapagos are limited. You cannot just rock up anywhere you want and go ashore. You need a permit. You need to follow the rules. You need an official guide and you need to be off before 6pm. This is one of many reasons why, if you want to see the Galapagos, you need to sign up for an official tour. You will see the same things that everyone else does. You will visit the same places and be herded around in the same way. I think groups are coordinated so that only a few people get to visit each location at a time. Even so, if often did not feel at all like exploration but more like a park visit.
Fernandina is the youngest of the islands and last erupted in 2005. Our landing point was a narrow stretch of land famous for the hundreds of marine iguanas that hang out on the black lava rocks. There were a remarkable number of iguanas there. Ugly lizards that rarely seem to move. To help deal with the sea water they secrete concentrated salter water through their heads, so they often appear to have white heads. We also saw some flightless cormorants. Another species endemic to the Galapagos and the only species of cormorant to have become flightless. In the water were some sea lions. Or possibly Galapagos fur seals. By the time we left I had yet to work out the difference. The fur seals are not like the Antarctic fur seals but are actually a type of sea lion – which to me looked just like the other sea lions. Whatever, there were many young sea lions around playing in the water and generally being very cute.
We cut across a relatively young lava flow which was interesting for the cactus that had grown on it. In Iceland, a relatively new lava flow is indicated by grasses that are the first plants to take hold. Here, in a much warmer climate, it is a specialised type of cactus. There were a few blue footed boobies and brown pelicans. I also spotted a single yellow warbler in a bush. We also got shown the back bone of a whale that someone had carefully laid out on the rock. Not really sure what this was about.
This turned out to be a typical day in the Galapagos. Sail somewhere new. Go ashore. Look at animals. Back on board by 6pm. It was relaxing and fun. Also, in contrast to the other Hurtigruten vessels we had been on, the food was great. Proper tasty vegetarian food. Made us feel very happy.
