Isabela Island

Early this morning we anchored at Urbina Bay on Isabela Island. We headed ashore for our hikes; a longer option took us to the zone where white stony corals used to grow until this bay was uplifted in the early 1950’s. The shorter hike took us along the old shore line, full of pebbles and small shells. Both alternatives were great and gave us the chance to see Galápagos land iguanas and several species of land birds.

This is the time of the year when land birds are in full mating display; several were building nests and we could hear finches singing loudly all around us, a few carrying nesting material in their beaks. As the rains arrive, land tortoises also descend from the highlands to mate as the humid warm conditions bring more food for these reptiles, as well as for the land iguanas. We finished our hike on a beach where we cooled off in the nice warm waters of Urbina Bay.

We left our morning’s location during lunch and headed northwards to Tagus Cove; there we had different options such as snorkeling and kayaking and then a hike or a Zodiac ride along the cliffs of Tagus Cove.

We left Isabela behind and are on our way to Santa Cruz Island. This was a great day on Isabela Island.