Urbina Bay & Punta Moreno, Southern Isabela
After a nice, calm night anchored next to Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island, this morning we navigated towards Urbina Bay on Isabela Island. We arrived ashore and started to explore this place where in the early fifties a large piece of land was uplifted. We walked along the coast and after a couple of miles, we encountered a very odd formation: a giant white coral head far in the interior. We looked at it and learned about these small creatures that formed this coral head. We found where scientists took core samples from it to study what the weather was like some thousands of years ago.
We explored more and also found the old shore line; there we encountered many land iguanas sunbathing, and several sulphur butterflies looking for nectar in some of the flowers. The morning was hot, so after the hike, we had a refreshing dip in the cooling waters of Urbina Bay.
We returned aboard for lunch while navigating towards Punta Moreno where we had a great time in the afternoon. The enormous lava field that originated after a massive eruption covers the whole area; sometimes it looks like you have been transported to a different planet!
We walked on it and found several brackish-water lagoons that have formed oasis, and are full of life. We found blue winged teals, Bahama pintail ducks, Moore hens, greater flamingos, several types of vegetation and even some fish. One can barely imagine that so much life could be found in the heart of a desolate lava flow. The volcanoes around us here in the Galápagos usually erupt every four to five years and that brought us to hope that we could see an eruption today, but no luck with the volcanoes, perhaps later…
After a nice, calm night anchored next to Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island, this morning we navigated towards Urbina Bay on Isabela Island. We arrived ashore and started to explore this place where in the early fifties a large piece of land was uplifted. We walked along the coast and after a couple of miles, we encountered a very odd formation: a giant white coral head far in the interior. We looked at it and learned about these small creatures that formed this coral head. We found where scientists took core samples from it to study what the weather was like some thousands of years ago.
We explored more and also found the old shore line; there we encountered many land iguanas sunbathing, and several sulphur butterflies looking for nectar in some of the flowers. The morning was hot, so after the hike, we had a refreshing dip in the cooling waters of Urbina Bay.
We returned aboard for lunch while navigating towards Punta Moreno where we had a great time in the afternoon. The enormous lava field that originated after a massive eruption covers the whole area; sometimes it looks like you have been transported to a different planet!
We walked on it and found several brackish-water lagoons that have formed oasis, and are full of life. We found blue winged teals, Bahama pintail ducks, Moore hens, greater flamingos, several types of vegetation and even some fish. One can barely imagine that so much life could be found in the heart of a desolate lava flow. The volcanoes around us here in the Galápagos usually erupt every four to five years and that brought us to hope that we could see an eruption today, but no luck with the volcanoes, perhaps later…
