Southern Isabela
We had an amazing star gazing show with Walter on the deck last night; Captain John turned off all the ship’s lights and we were anchored alone in the Bay at Punta Espinoza under a blazing Milky Way. We slept peacefully and soundly and the engines were not turned on until 0500 this morning for our short navigation to anchor at the base of Alcedo Volcano in Urbina Bay. Alcedo is one of my favorite places on earth since it is where I lived for a year and a half doing research on giant tortoises and introduced burros for my PhD.
Today we had several hike options and chose both the distance and speed that appealed to each of us: long walk at a fast pace, long walk at a medium pace, or short walk at a slow pace. Those who opted for the long walk started out along the coast, clambered over a pile of lava rocks and then turned inland passing by several huge coral heads that are high and dry and several hundred yards inland from the sea. On the short walk we also noticed that the lava rocks were encrusted with tube worms, and we found an old beach now a half mile inland. This section of the western coast of Isabela was uplifted by several meters and almost instantaneously in 1954.
Those who accompanied me on the short slow walk found a young tortoise strolling down the trail just as we headed inland from the beach. Everyone on all the walks found land iguanas – big, bright, fearless lizards sunning along the trails and often even in the trails! Back at the beach the waves and water temp were perfect for body surfing and swimming and a dip in the cool ocean was the perfect follow up to the hot conditions of the walk.
In the afternoon we had an interesting talk about Charles Darwin presented by Naturalist Jan, and then chose to take a lava hike combined with a Zodiac cruise or just a Zodiac cruise. The hikers crossed a mile of rough mostly barren lava to find three brackish lagoons where lush green vegetation looked out of place in the midst of the expansive lava fields. To our surprise, there were a few brilliant flamingoes in these lagoons along with moorhens and a few other species.
The Zodiac cruise was lovely; we found a huge marbled sting ray and several spotted eagle rays in the mangrove lagoons. Sea turtles were popping their heads up to breathe all around us and we enjoyed the peaceful setting, wonderfully clean air and cool fresh breeze. There was not another ship in sight as far as the eye could see and we felt privileged to be alone in this pristine part of the enchanted islands of Galápagos.
