This morning, after a hearty breakfast, I offered our guests four different hiking options: a two mile long walk, at either a fast, medium or slow pace, or a shorter one mile walk. Our Zodiacs dropped us in calf-deep water off a black sand beach and we climbed the slope to see that the crest was pitted with sea turtle nests. We dried our feet and put on our shoes to prepare for hiking. Everyone was able to take the hike they wanted to and we all had a marvelous time! On all the hikes we saw several giant tortoises and large yellow land iguanas, and some of the other highlights were the dark billed cuckoo, feeding penguins sighted along the shore, mockingbirds, broad-billed flycatchers, a Galapagos hawk and a small billed tree finch. Today’s hike was particularly interesting because the naturalists explained and pointed out evidence of the uplifting of a long section of this coast which occurred in 1954. Coral heads and tubeworms were left high and dry and are now deteriorating slowly in the hot tropical sun.
Back on the landing beach we found that the high tide and a swell had made for an exciting return to our Zodiacs. With just eight guests per boat we boarded like commandos and made it off the wave battered beach with only wet shorts. Our “pangueros,” the Zodiac drivers, did an excellent job and all the guests listened and followed the orders to embark quickly. As soon as we were all safely on board the Captain had his boson haul up the anchor and we began our navigation to the north.
The afternoon found us anchored in a calm, protected cove under partly sunny skies. At 2:45 p.m. Walter took thirteen kayakers out for a paddle along the dramatic coastline of Tagus Cove. The conditions were perfect and the kayakers enjoyed seeing cormorants, pelicans and blue-footed boobies perched and resting along the shore and sea lions and sea turtles swimming beside them. Jonathan took our underwater GoPro camera and a small group of snorkelers to swim and snorkel along the northern shore of Tagus Cove. They were delighted to find lots of penguins and sea turtles and to watch a cormorant catch, overpower and finally swallow an octopus!
At 4:30 p.m. we sent a second round of kayakers out with Jonathan and they too enjoyed paddling serenely along the shore viewing resting sea birds, graceful sea lions and sea turtles bobbing up for air. Next we sent two groups of hikers up the trail for a fast paced climb to an overlook of Darwin Crater Lake and northward towards the slopes of Darwin Volcano. As the sun set and the afternoon cooled off the view was splendid from the top of the trail and everyone appreciated this second chance to really stretch their legs today!
For those who had used up their energy on the morning’s rocky terrain, we offered a Zodiac cruise. I accompanied this group of guests and we too had a delightful afternoon’s outing. We saw a group of rare Galapagos martins that were nesting under a cliff, three penguins on shore and over a dozen in the water and of course many sea lions and sea turtles.
As the ship navigated back north along Isabela (to cross the equator twice during the night and remain in the southern hemisphere for the rest of this week) we gathered with Walter on the sky deck to star gaze and then hurried off to bed. Tomorrow is going to be another full day in the magical Islas Encantadas!
