The largest island of the Galapagos is made up of five and a half volcanos, most of them still active. In the morning we set out for a hike at a place called Urbina Bay. A black sand beach where sea turtles nest is our landing place. We put our shoes on and we are ready to follow a loop trail heading inland and then along the shore. Many land birds are usually the first to welcome us here.
Other reptiles of the area are the beautiful yellow land iguanas and the lava lizards. Now they walk on the place where water used to flow and as a consequence of magma shifting from underneath, now lies higher by about 12 feet. Testimony of the event are millions of broken shells. And still the best evidence are large pieces of bleached coral now with vegetation growing on or around them.
After a short hike for some groups and long hike for others we finish the morning at the beach for a cooling dip in these now temperate waters.
The ship moves to our next destination, Tagus Cove. This is a place where pirates, whalers and other early visitors used to drop anchor, some for giant tortoises, others just for the tranquility of its waters. Evidence of that is some graffiti carved deep in the volcanic ash.
It is a great place to enjoy water activities like kayaking and snorkeling, for the area offers a wide variety of wildlife like penguins, cormorants, sea lions, iguanas, turtles and more. This can be all seen and enjoyed either from the water, a kayak or from the Zodiac as several options are offered to our guests to maximize their experience.
To conclude the afternoon and the day, some people head on land for an invigorating hike up and along a crater lake with hyper saline waters and surrounded by interesting local flora where some land birds can be seen.
A fantastic view of the island volcanoes speaks to the magic of the place.
All are back on board by 6:00 p.m. to celebrate another day of successful expedition.
