Isabela Island

This morning we were given the option for a short or a long walk; no matter which one we chose we were promised to see land iguanas and giant tortoises. And they were right!

As soon as we started walking inland we found our first giant tortoise, a young female that was standing right in the middle of the trail. She was not very shy, so she gave us the opportunity to take pictures with her neck extended. A few yards away we found three juveniles; a little further away, right on the trail, an older male, at least 400 pounds, was walking towards us and then he stopped and stretched his neck out like he was waiting for finches to clean his neck from parasites; a few more yards and there was another young one, and so on. In total we counted 12 individuals: huge males, middle-sized females, and innocent juveniles.

The second promise was also met a little further down the road with the most colorful land iguanas that we have seen so far in our trip.

Besides the tortoises and the iguanas, the vegetation was also different from what we had seen so far. Galápagos cotton has the most beautiful yellow flowers, and cordia lutea, or muyuyo, also added some color to our walk.

At the end of the trail we found huge coral heads that were uplifted in 1954, when, in a couple of hours, the sea floor was lifted above water and all the animals that lived there collapsed and died, leaving behind a record of what nature is capable of.

Along the coast the terrain was completely different, as we had to climb on rocks that sheltered a few huge marine iguanas; the walk along the sand was strenuous but worth it because at the end we took a refreshing splash at a black beach.
In the afternoon, some of us went kayaking along the coast of Tagus Cove on the coast of Isabela and some went snorkeling in the same cove; both were great choices. While kayaking we saw cormorants and penguins on the cliff sides and during snorkeling we had cormorants, penguins and sea turtles swimming with us.

And with an afternoon stroll to the top of a cinder cone, we finished our fourth day in paradise.