Isabela
We spent the 4th of July on the largest island of the Galápagos archipelago; Isabela looks like a seahorse! Isabela is 80 miles long and encompasses more land area than all the other islands combined. Yesterday we visited northern Isabela but never actually set foot on it (we took that fabulous Zodiac ride and went snorkeling with about 60 sea turtles at Punta Vicente Roca!) Today we did hike on Isabela and we had a number of outings and options to choose from: a longer two-mile or short ½-mile hike and swimming from a lovely black sand beach in the morning. And in the afternoon, two rounds of kayaking, snorkeling, a climbing hike for a view back to the ship and/or a Zodiac ride along the coast were all scheduled.
After breakfast we made a wet landing on a black sand beach where sea turtles had been nesting during the earlier months of the year. We dried our feet and put on our walking shoes and followed the naturalists out along the long and short trails. Everyone who hiked this morning was delighted to find several giant tortoises that ranged in size from a small one (perhaps 12-15 years old) to mature females (who might be as old as 80 years!) Early in the morning the tortoises were out in the open, walking along the trails or feeding in the lush vegetation. But as the morning got hotter they took to the shade and were harder to find and photograph. Some of us found nine tortoises, and others only four or five, but we were all quite pleased to get a chance to see these iconic reptiles in their natural habitat.
We also found half a dozen large, yellow land iguanas. A couple of them were skittish and one darted into its underground burrow, but most of them sat still and confident, smack in the middle of the trail, and we stepped carefully around them. After the walks we were thrilled to jump into the chilly ocean and cool off before returning to the ship for lunch and siesta.
In the afternoon naturalist Gaby took five double kayaks and three singles, plus the 13 guests to paddle these boats, out to the mouth of Tagus Cove. They boarded the boats from the Zodiac, adjusted the kayak rudder so they could more easily steer, and set off paddling along the shoreline. The kayakers had a delightful time and were accompanied by penguins, cormorants, sea turtles and sea lions.
Fernando and Sofia took two Zodiacs of diehard snorkelers and, in spite of the chilly water, they too had a fabulous time! Both groups saw sea turtles and many big schools of fish; some saw penguins while others saw cormorants.
When the snorkelers and first round of kayakers had returned Gaby took out another full group of guests for a mega kayak outing, and Fernando and Sofia led hikers up the steps and trail above Darwin’s crater lake. They hiked through a palo santo forest where Darwin’s finches were feeding and singing and had an absolutely magnificent view, first back across the lake to the ship’s anchorage, and later to the north towards the sunset and volcanoes Wolf and Darwin. I went with a small group in Ricky’s Zodiac to explore towards the north along the shoreline and we too had a wonderful time. We found a dozen penguins drying off on shore for the night, Ricky took the Zodiac into a huge crack where noddy terns were nesting and we returned along with the mega kayakers and hikers to the ship as dusk fell.
Dinner tonight was a delicious and abundant 4th of July buffet which we enjoyed as the National Geographic Islander navigated back north and around the island of Isabela towards Santiago where we will spend the day tomorrow.
