FERNANDINA ISLAND
The further west you travel in the Galapagos Islands, the younger in geological terms and more volcanically active become the islands. As the westernmost island, Fernandina's volcano, La Cumbre, is the most active in the archipelago.
As a consequence, much of the island is formed of new lava with very little vegetation, and there is only one visitor site.
The visitor site is reached by a dry landing which is surrounded by mangroves. The area of the site is mainly black lava and dark grey sand.
The lava is host to many clumps of lava cactus and there are a number of tidal rock pools in which turtles can often be seen.
There is an extremely large colony of marine iguanas and it is occasionally difficult to walk along without the risk of treading on them. On the shoreline are Sally Lightfoot crabs and sea-lions. Sally Lightfoot crabs are found in abundance on Fernandina and most other places in the Galapagos. They are difficult to miss with their very vivid colouring. Birds present include the flightless cormorant, pelicans, oystercatchers and blue herons and the yellow warbler.
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