The western realm of the Galápagos Islands offers a unique experience of ancient creatures. Today we began our early expedition on Urbina Bay. Before landing, the crystal clear water of the bay allowed us to spot several sea turtles and eagle rays from the Zodiacs. Once on the beach our explorers were astonished by the black sand dunes that house hundreds of sea turtle nests.
The vegetation is dense and dry this time of year, but the Darwin’s cotton were flowering and carpenter bees were busy pollinating them. The walk on the islands was easy for those explorers that accompanied us on our short adventure, but for those who decided to come for a longer walk, it was a little more challenging. Urbina Bay is a volcanic uplifted area, with boulder and big corals heads exposed along the shoreline.
The Galápagos tortoises were exploring new grounds and we were able to see a couple of juvenile giant tortoises that were foraging on the remaining vegetation found inland. This unique experience continued into the dense vegetation, where land iguanas were found. After a long walk, and delighted with Darwin finches, mockingbirds and warblers, we reached the coastline of Urbina that once was underwater. Children as well as adults stayed on the beach, swimming and playing in the small waves.
The afternoon couldn't be better; to enjoy the magical wildlife of Galápagos we had several alternatives. A close encounter with penguins, cormorants and other shorebirds were the objective for the explorers who went kayaking. Others wanted to enjoy the underwater realm and went snorkeling along the coast of Tagus Cove, where they found several species of fish such as harlequin wrasses, bravo clinid, balloonfish, Peruvian grunts, dusky chubs and damsel fish. Sea turtles and a feeding frenzy of Galápagos penguins were also sighted in the snorkeling area.
Late in the afternoon many of our explorers opted to go for a power walk while others went for a Zodiac ride. The end of the day closed with the sun setting behind Fernandina Island.
