We happily spent the whole day at Isabela Island, the largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago. Isabela has five active volcanos and a breathtaking landscape. There are lava flows everywhere and shield volcanos with huge calderas. Although Isabela Island accounts for more than half of the Galapagos’ surface are, it only has few visitor sites.
Our day started at Urbina Bay. Riding Zodiacs to the black-sand beach we came across an unusual sight. A female Pacific green sea turtle was working hard to cover her nest with sand. Normally, sea turtles lay their eggs at night. We worried that the turtle would not finish her important task before the sun grew too hot. Fortunately, she was able to finish and head back to the water.
Starting our exploration along the coast, we spotted a huge male marine iguana, at least four feet long! Further ahead several female marine iguanas warmed up on top of big black lava rocks. We also saw yellow warblers, Darwin finches, whimbrels, brown pelicans, striated herons and many Sally Lightfoot crabs. Heading inland, we saw evidence of an incredible geological event that occurred in 1954, when seismic activity uplifted more than two square kilometers of sea floor, changing the topography and the landscape of Urbina Bay forever. This evidence included petrified sea worms, barnacles and huge pieces of white coral heads spread along the trail.
It was very sunny so we stopped for some shade in a small forest of poison apple trees. Right on the trail, we saw several land iguanas and a Galapagos hawk. As we finished our morning hike, we were lucky to see two giant tortoises hiding under the bushes trying to prevent overheating.
After returning to the ship, we headed to Tagus Cove for our afternoon activities. Some guests went kayaking along the coastline, where they saw cormorants, pelicans and sea lions among the rocks. Others went snorkeling among sea turtles, penguins, playful sea lions and flightless cormorants trying to catch fish.
Later on, we disembarked to visit Darwin Lake. After climbing 120 wooden steps, we were rewarded with a stunning view of the ocean and Darwin Lake separated by a thin wall of compacted ash and the National Geographic Endeavour in the background. We continued to the summit, where Darwin Volcano appeared enormous to us. Then it was time to head back. Another awesome day in the Galapagos!
