Southern Isabela Island
What an amazing day we had today! Following breakfast we disembarked on a steep black sand beach, pitted with old sea turtles nests, at the base of Volcan Alcedo. A golden and mottled brown juvenile Galápagos hawk was perched on a large rock beside the beach. He remained there as if posing for countless photos during the three and half hours we were on shore! This is one of my favorite areas of the archipelago since I know it so well having spent a year and a half camped on this volcano among the giant tortoises and introduced donkeys doing research for my PhD. This morning we offered long and short hike options and everyone who hiked found large yellow land iguanas and a couple of small tortoises hiding in the shade.
Once we returned to the beach many of us dove into the cool ocean for a refreshing dip. Those who returned early to the ship took a fabulous Zodiac ride among a pod of frisky bottlenose dolphins. They leapt and splashed and thrilled us with their graceful and playful antics.
The afternoon outings options were a lava walk or a Zodiac cruise. Two guides with two groups of guests chose each outing. Gilda and Magdalena led their groups over a rough expanse of lava that continued as far as the eye could see to the bases of Volcan Sierra Negra and Volcan Cerro Azul. There were scattered plants on the black basalt and lush vegetation, moorhens and flamingoes in the three brackish lagoons that they found hidden in the lava fields.
Jonathan and I took our guests on a Zodiac cruise in calm mangrove lagoons where we observed three species of rays – marbled sting rays, golden rays and eagle rays – pelicans, cormorants, striated herons and blue-footed boobies.
The wind whistled and howled as we all returned to the ship, flocks of boobies that had been plunge diving all afternoon to catch fish flapped towards shore to roost for the night, and the sun dropped quickly into the western sea in a big orange ball of fire. Yet another fabulous day in Las Islas Encantadas!
