Today was our second full day in the western most part of this archipelago, and we decided to start our day a bit earlier than normal, because the weather has been very hot these last few days.
The idea was to be out as soon as the Galapagos National park rules allow us, and since Urbina Bay has a lot of nature and geological interest, we offered two options to our explorers. The first option was an invigorating hike along the coast and into a typical dry vegetation zone, and a shorter version of this hike was also offered, with more wildlife sighting opportunities and more time for photographing. It was such an exciting morning, with great sightings of giant tortoises, Galapagos land iguanas and the melodious singing of famous Darwin finches.
Both groups ended at the same beach, and this time the Pacific Ocean was very refreshing after the hikes. After we had some time to relax and enjoy this beautiful black sandy beach, we offered a mega swim from the beach back to the National Geographic Endeavour! Many of our intrepid guests accepted the challenge, and everyone succeed at their own swimming pace. It was very rewarding because apart from burning a lot of calories, we also spotted turtles, rays, sea lions and many fish along the way.
Our Ecuadorian cuisine is not worldwide famous, and today at lunch, our crew took the opportunity to introduce our fellow travelers to a delicious, well-deserved Ecuadorian lunch. As we were enjoying our meal, we sailed for a few miles toward a different visitor site known as Tagus Cove. This site has much more human history than most of the islands, and it was a popular stop for whalers and pirates for many centuries.
Tagus Cover has a lovely bay that is perfect for kayaking, Zodiac riding and deep water snorkeling, and conditions today were excellent. Some of us took a hike to the top of a spatter cone, to learn about the great geological importance of this structure. From the summit, we had an incredible view that included many shield volcanos, fresh lava flows that were probably only a few decades old, and of course Darwin Lake. It was a wonderful excursion, so peaceful, beautiful and interesting, all at the same time.
It has been a long day and we are ready for a good sleep, because tomorrow we have another full day, and we will continue exploring Galapagos with a visit to a very different island, and miles and miles away from here...
