We are visiting Isabela Island today, setting foot on the largest of the Galápagos islands. It is larger than the rest of the land masses put together! The morning program happened here in the dry forest among the Galapagos land iguanas.
After breakfast we had a wet landing at Urbina bay. The ocean was quite calm and the sun was out. The cold waters around the western Galapagos are known to be the home to a large variety of marine species. One of these abundant marine reptiles are the Pacific green sea turtles which are nesting all along the upper area of our landing beach. Some of these turtles spend their lives foraging in these nutrient rich waters on this side of the Galápagos. Others make long journeys to South America, Central America, and as far north as Mexico.
As soon as we started hiking we had our first sighting of flocks of Darwin’s finches and Galapagos mocking birds. The foot of Volcán Alcedo is also home to a large colony of land iguanas. We spotted many iguanas basking in the sun close to the trail. Some of them were a little lazy and they were still resting inside burrows.
Along the hike we spotted 5 giant tortoises shading under the poison apple trees. We were delighted by the amazing opportunity to photograph these prehistoric looking reptiles. It was good to see them down by the lowlands of Alcedo volcano, especially now when it’s dry and they usually climb on higher land looking for food.
After lunch the National Geographic Islander repositioned to a different location. This time we stopped at a cove which was well visited during the 17th century, a well-protected cove known as called “Tagus” after the HMS Tagus. Tuff cones and small cinder cones were visible further along the trail, with layers of volcanic ash as the result of many volcanic eruption. Here we found sea birds such as flightless cormorants, blue footed boobies, and penguins. They all were fishing in the same spot! What a show they gave to us. Here some of us went kayaking and there was also an opportunity to explore while snorkeling.
It was another incredible day in this enchanted archipelago.
