Isabela Island
Isabela Island is the largest one in the Galápagos Archipelago: its surface area is 1771 square miles, which constitutes approximately half of the total land area of the whole archipelago. This paradisiacal island gave us immense satisfactions today. Several options were offered, depending on the different interests and expectations our guests had. Some guests opted to do a long but beautiful and successful hike to the rim of Sierra Negra volcano. Others went even further and closer to the site of the most recent volcanic eruption. The eruption took place as recently as October 22nd, this year! Still other guests preferred to remain in the vicinity of the picturesque town of “Puerto Villamil”. In this place activities ranged from swimming in the waters of a beautiful white sandy beach, strolling along it, using our free time to explore the town or enjoying a beer or a juice in a local beach bar.
Most of us at different times had the opportunity to visit the giant tortoise breeding center on Isabela Island. In this place the Galápagos National Park works on the restoration of several endangered tortoise subspecies that inhabit Isabela Island. In the afternoon some of us walked through a rugged yet spectacular field of lava, to the edge of a water-filled fissure in the flow where several white-tipped reef sharks were resting. One of the major attractions of this place, in addition to the sharks, was the marine iguana. Isabela Island is home to the largest of the seven subspecies of marine iguana found in the Galápagos. The size of the ones we found today during the walk impressed us all. They looked like miniature antediluvian relics from the past.
Isabela Island is the largest one in the Galápagos Archipelago: its surface area is 1771 square miles, which constitutes approximately half of the total land area of the whole archipelago. This paradisiacal island gave us immense satisfactions today. Several options were offered, depending on the different interests and expectations our guests had. Some guests opted to do a long but beautiful and successful hike to the rim of Sierra Negra volcano. Others went even further and closer to the site of the most recent volcanic eruption. The eruption took place as recently as October 22nd, this year! Still other guests preferred to remain in the vicinity of the picturesque town of “Puerto Villamil”. In this place activities ranged from swimming in the waters of a beautiful white sandy beach, strolling along it, using our free time to explore the town or enjoying a beer or a juice in a local beach bar.
Most of us at different times had the opportunity to visit the giant tortoise breeding center on Isabela Island. In this place the Galápagos National Park works on the restoration of several endangered tortoise subspecies that inhabit Isabela Island. In the afternoon some of us walked through a rugged yet spectacular field of lava, to the edge of a water-filled fissure in the flow where several white-tipped reef sharks were resting. One of the major attractions of this place, in addition to the sharks, was the marine iguana. Isabela Island is home to the largest of the seven subspecies of marine iguana found in the Galápagos. The size of the ones we found today during the walk impressed us all. They looked like miniature antediluvian relics from the past.
