The largest island of the Galapagos is made up of five and a half volcanos with most of them still active.
In the morning we set out for a hike in a place called Urbina Bay. Black sand 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 along the shore. Right at the beginning we encounter some small tortoises from the nearby Alcedo Volcano population. They spend their first years of life here before they find their way to the summit just to later return to nest here if they are females.
Other reptiles of the area are the beautiful yellow land iguanas and the lava lizards. Now they walk on a place where water used to flow and, as a consequence of magma shifting from underneath, now lies about 12 feet higher. Testimony of the event are millions of broken shells. Still, the best evidence are large pieces of bleached coral now with vegetation growing on or around them.
After our hike, we finish the morning at the beach for a cooling dip in the now temperate waters.
The ship moves to our next destination, Tagus Cove. This is the 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 this is some graffiti carved deep in the volcanic ash.
This is a great place to enjoy water activities like kayaking and snorkeling, as the area offers a wide variety of wildlife like penguins, cormorants, sea lions, iguanas, turtles and more. They can all be seen and enjoyed either from the water, a kayak or from the Zodiac, and we offer all options so our guests can maximize their experience.
To conclude the afternoon and the day some people headed on land for an invigorating hike along a crater lake with hypersaline waters and surrounded by interesting local flora where some land birds can be seen.
A fantastic view of the island’s volcanoes speak for the magic of the place.
All were back on board by 6:00 p.m. to celebrate another day of this successful expedition.
