Isabela Island

On our second day in the western part of the Archipelago, we started our day at 8am in the morning with a wet landing on a black volcanic sandy beach. As soon as we disembarked we put on our hiking shoes and back packs to start exploring the coastline of Urbina Bay.

Our walk was a good place to explore tidal pools with many baby fish and crabs. This gave us a better understanding of why many migratory and resident birds alike make this their favorite place; the rich food sources are abundant. Out main interest was to witness an uplifting event along the Urbana’s bay coastline that occurred in 1954: barnacles, mollusks and turtle shells are found everywhere. This is evidence that the uplifting happened very quickly, not allowing wildlife such as turtles to swim away. Head corals and barnacles shells attached to the rocks above the sea level are the strongest evidence of this geological event in the Archipelago.

Before returning to the beach we passed a dense area of vegetation with land iguanas and a young tortoise resting on the trail, this was a good sign of how the giants are recovering their dynasty.

In the afternoon, we offered a mile walk over fresh lava flows with just a few pioneer plants, the highlight of this walk was a few oases found in the middle of nowhere. The sea water gets through the fissures of the island and settles in open areas. The salt content is much less in comparison to the sea water, making it possible and easier for plants to colonize. This is where lagoon birds can be found as well. This afternoon, we saw ten flamingos and a few gallinules making this area a place of interest for our guests.

A Zodiac ride was offered for those not interesting in the long walk: sea turtles, blue-footed boobies, flightless cormorants, golden, eagle and marbled rays were found during this excursion. What an adventure to finish a day in this remote protected Archipelago.