Isabela is the largest of the Galapagos Islands. It has a very characteristic shape - a sea horse! We spent a full day today discovering the wonders of this beautiful area, the sea horse of the Galapagos.
We started by disembarking in Urbina Bay. The first surprise of the day was for some of our guests to have a close encounter with dolphins at the anchorage bay.
Then we started probably the longest of the hikes during this week. We walked approximately two miles in the dry area of vegetation. This unique area is very interesting as it is an uplift that happened in the year 1954. The entire area has been colonized very fast by secondary vegetation. So we had the chance to see a very healthy ecosystem, with endemic and native vegetation. And we also had some wildlife encounters.
The area is a welcoming environment for land iguanas and giant tortoises. After walking along the shores and finding some huge heads of coral inside land as a proof of the uplift, we started searching for these land reptiles. The first encounter was unforgettable. Two massive giant tortoises were feeding on a poisonous apple in the middle of the trail. Our group couldn’t believe finally meeting these emblematic animals.
We continued our hike and finally we reached the beach again and enjoyed the refreshing waters of the Islands with a wonderful swim surrounded by penguins.
In the afternoon we anchored in Tagus Cove. We enjoyed again some great snorkeling and a beautiful area for kayaking, where we saw cormorants, penguins, and even mating spotted eagle rays! Later we left for a hike which took us to the highest area of a cone from where we could observe Darwin’s Lake and the newest areas of our sea horse. We came back with the sunset. What a beautiful day of discoveries and adventures in the Galapagos.
