Capturing the Moment

  King of the mountain. These marine iguana must be modern day dinosaurs. This afternoon we visited the youngest of the Galapagos Islands, called Fernandina. It is located in the west of the archipelago, closest to the hot spot which creates all of the islands. The islands form over the stable hot spot, which is bringing magma up from the Earth's mantle, but then the islands move off to the East with the rest of the tectonic plate. The volcano on Fernandina, known locally as Vulcan La Cumbre, erupted as recently as last march. It was no surprise then when we were greeted at the shoreline with jet black lava rock. The lava had flowed out into the shallows, creating a network of tidepools, all filled with colorful damselfish, and even some sea lion babies. David, our guide, said that the mama sea lions will leave their pups here in the tidepools, knowing that they will be safe from predators (big sharks), until the mother gets back. The pups are totally reliant on their mom for the f...

  Skiff Tours, Sea Caves, Beach Landings, and more wildlife than I can shake a stick at? Yes Please! That was the story on our first full day aboard La Pinta here in the Galapagos Islands. We started off our day with a zodiac tour around the Northwest tip of Isabela Island at a place called Punta Vicente Roca. A marine iguana lazily lounges ontop of another in an attempt to warm up in the afternoon sun. The landscape of Isabela Island here is stunning. The volcano geology is exposed thanks to thousands of years of erosion due to wind, waves, and rain. As we approached the cliffs closer we realized that sea birds and marine iguanas dotted the cliffs. Just like the animals on Seymour North Island yesterday, they allowed us to approach very closely. All of these photos were taken with my iPhone. It was the closest I had ever gotten to a brown noddy, a beautiful little sea bird that nest in rocky cliffs. Check out the photo below! Farther along the cliffs we came across a massive sea c...