Our expedition led us to explore the central area of Isabela, where the ocean floor uplifted above sea level. After breakfast we had a wet landing at Urbina Bay, a nice gray sandy beach where the Pacific green sea turtles have chosen as a nesting place.
As we went into the deciduous forest of the island we found several land iguanas shading themselves under the poison apple trees and some eating the small poison apples. What is fascinating to me as a naturalist guide is the fact that secondary succession happened in this area. A place which held a complex marine ecosystem is now a perfect habitat for reptiles and birds inhabiting this well-developed land ecosystem.
The one and only land tortoise from Alcedo volcano was found just resting nearby a poison apple tree. Some of us went exploring on a longer hike to encounter large coral heads uplifted near the coast. Surprisingly, on an almost dry pond one octopus remained solitary around a small crevice, avoiding sun exposure with very little water.
During the afternoon we visited Tagus cove, a place where the waters were calm at the beginning and allowed us to have a wonderful kayaking outing along the coast where we had the chance to find some penguins fishing and flightless cormorants nesting. It did rain for a couple of hours, but it did not stop us from snorkeling with sea turtles and penguins in this area. Later in the afternoon we had a Zodiac ride and a hike to explore the lookout area along Darwin’s lake, up on the cliff areas of a small parasitic volcano.
It was another wonderful day in this enchanted archipelago.
