Isabela Island
In the early hours of the day, we arrived to Puerto Villamil on the southern realm of the largest island in the archipelago. This small village is located right at the bottom of one of the most active volcanoes in Galápagos as it is Sierra Negra volcano which erupted just last year for a short period of time.
Our morning journey began taking those who wanted to take a walk along the rim of Sierra Negra volcano to reach the closest point to the cones where last year’s eruption took place. For those who just wanted to see the caldera and the fumaroles, the option of a short walk combined with bird watching was just perfect. For our guests who wanted to stay in the low lands, they went to “Tintoreras” islet where they saw penguins together with female marine iguanas nesting, Galápagos sea lions and blue footed boobies which make this place unique.
During the visit to Sierra Negra, we had an incredible time observing very vigorous activity of fumaroles perhaps triggered by the last rains in this region, which with the heat of lava produce large amounts of steam. One could easily find “Pele’s hair” named after the Hawaiian goddess of the volcanoes spread all over the ground, which are very thin strings of lava stretched out during the eruption and blown hundreds of yards away by the wind.
After our different options, we all came aboard for a delicious lunch. For the afternoon, we went in to town and visited the Galápagos land tortoise restoration program and saw the small babies and the big adults. We watched one of these tortoises taking a nap on top of the shell of the other and it looked like it was enjoying its siesta very much. After visiting this centre, some went by bicycle exploring the town and the surroundings areas, while others had a wonderful time strolling along the beach.
After a magnificent day on Isabela, we returned for a last time in this day to share some of the fantastic moments we had on this magical place.
In the early hours of the day, we arrived to Puerto Villamil on the southern realm of the largest island in the archipelago. This small village is located right at the bottom of one of the most active volcanoes in Galápagos as it is Sierra Negra volcano which erupted just last year for a short period of time.
Our morning journey began taking those who wanted to take a walk along the rim of Sierra Negra volcano to reach the closest point to the cones where last year’s eruption took place. For those who just wanted to see the caldera and the fumaroles, the option of a short walk combined with bird watching was just perfect. For our guests who wanted to stay in the low lands, they went to “Tintoreras” islet where they saw penguins together with female marine iguanas nesting, Galápagos sea lions and blue footed boobies which make this place unique.
During the visit to Sierra Negra, we had an incredible time observing very vigorous activity of fumaroles perhaps triggered by the last rains in this region, which with the heat of lava produce large amounts of steam. One could easily find “Pele’s hair” named after the Hawaiian goddess of the volcanoes spread all over the ground, which are very thin strings of lava stretched out during the eruption and blown hundreds of yards away by the wind.
After our different options, we all came aboard for a delicious lunch. For the afternoon, we went in to town and visited the Galápagos land tortoise restoration program and saw the small babies and the big adults. We watched one of these tortoises taking a nap on top of the shell of the other and it looked like it was enjoying its siesta very much. After visiting this centre, some went by bicycle exploring the town and the surroundings areas, while others had a wonderful time strolling along the beach.
After a magnificent day on Isabela, we returned for a last time in this day to share some of the fantastic moments we had on this magical place.
