Today we continued our exploration of the largest island of the Galapagos archipelago, Isabela. We first hiked along the unique geological landscape of Urbina Bay. Here we witnessed the way the continuous geological change of the Galapagos creates spectacular scenery. The trail of Urbina Bay is the result of a tectonic process by which the marine reef off the coast of Urbina Bay was uplifted more than 6 km and 5 meters above the sea level. Such geological change allowed us to spot a unique interaction of coral heads and barnacles combined with poison apple trees, spiny shrubs and arid zone vegetation. Within such a relatively new landscape, the presence of land iguanas just made our exploration more exciting. The fact that the population of these land iguanas is recovering is the consequence of long term efforts of introduced species eradication programs, which would not be possible without a coordinated effort of the Galapagos National Park, the Charles Darwin Research Station and responsible ecotourism stewards such as Lindblad expeditions. Not only iguanas, but a diversity of finches and mockingbirds appeared along the trail, hopping and singing around the greenery of Isabela. We ended this exciting walk with a well deserved swim from the beach of Urbina Bay.
Back on board we enjoyed our second art workshop with our resident artist Amy, who has been doing an amazing job, encouraging us to do accurate nature observations to inspire our Galapagos wildlife illustrations. Personally I am loving these workshops because it is opening my eyes to a new way of interacting with the beauty of the Galapagos landscape and biodiversity. After this fun activity, everyone was hungry, so it was time for lunch. Today we had my favorite food of the week, Ecuadorian buffet! A mixture of tastes from the Ecuadorian highlands and coastal areas, a perfect way to learn about one very important element of the Ecuadorian culture.
After lunch, we sailed towards Tagus Cove, a historical place where pirates and whalers left their footprints in a series of graffiti that we can still observe. Our first activities in this site included kayak and snorkel outings. For those who kayaked, the small, U-shaped cove provided a wonderful panorama and a great chance to observe flightless cormorants and Galapagos penguins. Our snorkelers discovered a great number of sea turtles, penguins and colorful fish in the waters of Tagus Cove. Finally, to end our day, we climbed a wooden stairway that took us to an astonishing viewpoint where the views of Darwin Lake and Darwin volcano´s lava flow are absolutely impressive. Different species of finches made a wonderful company as we made our way back, with an inspiring sunset, to end another magical day in the Galapagos islands.
