At sea: Fernandina Island, Galapagos 28 January & 4 February 2009

Fernandina is the youngest of the Galapagos Islands and sits directly over the volcanic hotspot. You’re not allowed to wander freely on the island but visitors are allowed onshore at Punta Espinoza to walk around. The first time we went ashore the tide was in so we used the jetty rather than the lava, and there was a baby sea lion waiting for his mum to come back from hunting. He looked so lonely and miserable. Apparently their mums can be gone for around two weeks and sometimes they don’t come back at all, in which case the pup is a goner. He looked like he’d been waiting a while and, needless to say, was pretty miserable.



The rock pools were sea lion pup playpens and there were so many of them frolicking in the shallow water out of harms way



There were masses of iguanas lying on rocks





and most were just sun bathing


Photo: JP Parenty

Everywhere we looked there were animals and this huge turtle appeared on the beach (very unusual for them to come out in the day apparently) when we were there.



A sea lion came over for a closer look


Photo: JP Parenty

and the iguanas just didn’t cease to enthral. In places, the rocks were absolutely covered



and here, you really had to be careful where you trod in case you stepped on one. I squatted down for a closer look at an iguana, got within firing range and one squirted me with salty what-ever-it-is in the face


Photo: JP Parenty

which everyone who saw thought was rather humorous. Apparently its good luck too….


Photo: JP Parenty

We found what looked like an enthralled audience (our first ever)


Photo: JP Parenty

so I started by telling them a story but their expressions didn’t change. Not once.



I thought the lava shapes were just brilliant (I’m not sure Euan shared my enthusiasm as we now have loads of space taken up with photos of lava)



but this truly was lava art



and the cacti were pretty special too



The iguanas were what had us hooked though.









and this guy was the most chilled out iguana we saw, casually draped over a log.



Euan asked me to go and stand a bit closer to this sea lion, that promptly woke up, barked at me and gave me one hell of a fright. They’re quite scary when they want to be!



At least once a day we're off the boat walking onshore looking at animals, geology or plant and bird life. Its normally for about 2-3 hours and we have to stay within marked trails. Only on the shoreline are we allowed to wander at all. The strict rules don't detract from the magic of the place and the rules are there for a reason. I'm surprised they let tourists here at all to be honest. There is potential to really ruin the islands and Pinta Island is a good example of that as, in the 1950s, three goats were introduced and produced 40,000 decendants. Can you believe it? All of these goats helped with the near extinction of the Pinta tortoise - there is one remaining.