Today we visited the largest island of the Galapagos, Isabela, made up of five and a half volcanos with most of them still active.
In the morning we set out for a hike at Urbina Bay and a black sand beach where sea turtles nest is our landing place. We put our shoes on after the wet landing and we were ready to follow a loop trail heading inland and along the shore. We crossed a place that was once the ocean floor before the year 1954.
Proud inhabitants of the area are the beautiful yellow land iguanas and lava lizards. They now walk where water used to be, as a consequence of magma shifting from below it now lies approximately 12 feet higher. Evidence of the event are millions of broken shells and large pieces of bleached coral now with vegetation growing on or around it.
After a short hike for some groups and long for others, we finish the morning at the beach for a cooling dip in these now temperate waters.
The ship moves to our next destination, Tagus Cove, where pirates, whalers and other early visitors used to drop anchor, some for giant tortoises others just for the tranquility of its waters. Graffiti still remains from these early travelers is carved deep in the volcanic ash. This is a great place to enjoy water activities like kayaking and snorkeling, for the area offers a wide variety of wildlife like penguins, cormorants, sea lions, iguanas, turtles and more. This can be all seen and enjoyed either from the water by kayak or from the Zodiac. Several options are offered to our guests to maximize their experience. A fantastic view of the island volcanoes speaks for the magic of the place.
We were all back on board by 6 pm to celebrate another day of successful expedition.
