The day was clear and the sun’s rays hit early. The ship was anchored off the coast of beautiful Isabela Island. Our first stop was Urbina Bay. We landed on a black sandy beach and stopped to appreciate the tracks of green sea turtles going up to the dunes. We spotted more than a dozen nests from the top. We started a nature walk inland, where we observed a large number of Darwin finches flying above the area.
We found the first giant tortoise resting under the shade of a poison apple tree. As we followed the path, we encountered more wildlife. Land iguanas and giant tortoises were the main fauna around. Some of them were eating the fallen fruits of the poison apple trees. Both species are able to eat the fruit without risk of poisoning. We were impressed by the bright colors of the Galapagos land iguanas.
During the last part of the walk, we heard Galapagos hawks. Soon after, three hawks appeared. They soared in the sky above the area and then disappeared. We walked a few more feet and saw that the hawks had landed on the tall incense trees. It was the perfect time to shoot photos of these amazing birds.
After such an amazing time surrounded by plants and animals, we finished our walk where we landed, on the black sandy beach. Our guests enjoyed some well-deserved time in the refreshing water of the sea.
In the afternoon, the ship sailed to Tagus Cove. The first activity we did was snorkeling. When we got in the water, we saw a large number of different fish. We had the opportunity to swim with Galapagos penguins, and very curious sea lions came close to see us. We observed the current moving green sea turtles as they tried to eat green algae from the rocks. We had an outstanding time in the water.
Our last activity of the day was a nature walk to the top of Tagus Cove. We walked through the dry forest with nothing but the sound of the birds around us. We stopped many times to observe Darwin Lake and its magnificent shades of blue. At one of the viewpoints, we took pictures of the lake with a view of the ship in the back.
