After a magnificent night watching the volcanic explosion of Sierra Negra Volcano, we sailed a few miles north to the coast of Alcedo Volcano. In the morning, we visited Urbina Bay, where we walked on terrain that was uplifted six kilometers, which occurred in 1954 due to volcanic activity. In this area we spotted our first group of Galapagos giant tortoises standing by the trail, and encountered lots of male yellow land iguanas.
After our walk, we had the opportunity to cool down during a swimming excursion, joined by penguins, sea lions and sea turtles. Our Global Explorers went for Zodiac driving lessons, while a humpback whale with a calf was spotted breaching nearby. They also collected plankton which we were able to examine closely using the microscope onboard the ship.
For the rest of the day, we had multiple activity options, including kayaking with sea lions, paddle-boarding over sharks, and snorkeling with fast swimming penguins and cormorants. In the afternoon we hiked up to Tagus Cove to watch the sunset over Darwin Lake. This was another wonderful day aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II.
