Fernandina is the youngest and most volcanically active island of the Galapagos, with lava flows as recent as April 2009, just two
months before our visit.
We explored the beach at Punta Espinosa, with large black barren lava fields, but with an amazing amount of
wildlife.
The signature species here is the Flightless Cormorant, but we ran also into a sea turtle, an octopus, many sea lions,
scores of Marine Iguanas and of course the colorful and ever-present Sally Lightfoot crabs.
We witnessed the sad demise of a young iguana in the sharp and deadly claws of a hungry Galapagos Hawk.
For sure this was one of the best and most impressive shore excursions.