Galapagos at its best

The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, close to 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador and are a true oasis for all nature lovers. Read about our travellers' experiences in a blog post written by PolarQuest's tguide Adam Rheborg.

November 14, 2019
Waking up on the island of Isabela's coast makes you think you have travelled back to ancient times. Nothing resembles this landscape, with its steep volcanic walls crashing right into the Pacific Ocean. We started the day by having a closer look at the dramatic geology from our Zodiacs and discovered that many animals have found their home here despite the inaccessibility. We were amazed by how high and steep the endemic sea iguanas climbed to spend the night on almost completely vertical walls and further down the cliffs we met Galapagos' unique cormorant - the only cormorant that cannot fly.

Then we jumped into our wetsuits to explore what was hidden beneath the surface. Here we swam among sea turtles and all kinds of colourful fish in large shoals - some of them so compact that you could not see the bottom beneath. The afternoon offered more snorkeling, but along the younger island of Fernandina's lava coast. Here we met the sea iguanas again, busy feeding algae from the underwater cliffs. Galapagos is the only place in the world where you can see iguanas picking up their food in the sea.

When the sun started to set, we made a landing at magical Punta Espinosa. Here everything happened at the same time. Sea lions played in the shallow lagoons, iguanas lay down to catch the last heat of the day, the Galapagos cormorants paid court to each other on the cliffs and out in the sea the blue footed boobies dived for fish. This is Galapagos at its best.

Text: Adam Rheborg