Day 6: Isabella Island Part 2 - Walking amongst Land Iguanas and Fernandina - Swimming with Marine Iguanas

This morning we ventured to shore in search of colorful land iguanas and giant tortoises.  We were lucky to find several huge iguanas sunning themselves in the early morning light on the trail.  These creatures look so pre-historic with their reptilian faces, scaled bodies, and long rounded tails.  At this time of year they display beautiful yellows and reds on their backs.  Several of these were up to six feet in length and allowed us to approach them to within a couple of feet. 

 One of the rare treats of the Galapagos is that animals have no fear of humans and thus the wildlife viewing is unsurpassed on the planet.  Our morning also included some nice encounters with giant tortoises and Richard did a good job explaining how their spines actually fuse into a unibody  construction with their shells.  These creatures can last up to a year without water - incredible.

After lunch we cruised across the channel to Fernandina Island where we enjoyed some world class snorkeling among some of the strangest creatures on the planet - marine iguanas.  Just picture a mini version of Godzilla that can swim and you have a good idea of what we encountered.  Imagine swimming and snorkeling amidst these creatures as they chew algea and seaweed off the rocky coastline…

In the late afternoon we made a shore landing to visit “Marine Iguana City” where we witnessed the strange site of hundreds of iguanas all piled up on top of each other basking in the sun along the shore. We also saw lots of red Sally Light Foot Crabs and then a Galapagos Hawk flew by with an iguana in its mouth - just another day in the islands…

Next: Isabella - Volcanic Lake, Kayaking, and King Neptune’s Wrath