Isabela Island
This morning most of us got up before breakfast, enjoying the start of a calm day. The partly clouded sky promised a morning hike in moderate temperatures. The bow of the National Geographic Endeavour cut through glassy water, for there was not a single breeze. Later, after breakfast, the sky opened up and slowly big cumulus clouds started to take shape around the calderas of the huge shield volcanoes surrounding us. This is typical weather for the warm season in Galápagos.
Our hike this morning is at Urbina Bay, where intrusive magma has uplifted quite a bit of coastline and the impact of that is seen further inland by way of coral heads now overgrown by sedge and other flora. Later in the walk we start to meet the local fauna in the form of land iguanas and giant tortoises. This sandy soil makes a great habitat for the iguanas, as they like to dig deep burrows where they shelter for the extremes in temperature.
The native and endemic flora is regularly interrupted by large patches of poison apple trees, and their shade feels like a cool oasis in the increasingly hot day and unforgiving surroundings. It is these shelters that are key for much biodiversity in this ecosystem and if it wasn’t for the tortoises and land iguanas their seeds wouldn’t be dispersed that much, since they are truly poisonous for creatures other than these reptiles. Once again it is made clear to us that in an ecosystem everything is linked and has a function.
After the hike we get into the cool water and enjoy the mild swells until it is time to go back on board. Here Naturalist Cindy Manning awaits us with a talk about Charles Darwin.
In the afternoon we have several activities: kayaking, snorkeling, hiking and zodiac rides. Several combinations are possible and I get to go with the kayakers along the shore, which is littered with such wildlife as flightless cormorants, Galápagos penguins, blue-footed boobies and sea lions. The 200 foot-high tuff cliffs where we paddle along resemble a giant layer cake randomly broken in pieces, making for stunning scenery.
A pair of cormorants is courting; he can’t stop touching her and later on I see him bringing her a piece of Sargasso seaweed to complete their nest. At seeing this she makes approving sounds. The whole scene is one of tenderness. Later on we spot a nest of Galápagos martins, with two young chicks peeking curiously over the ledge. A young sea lion escorts our kayaks for a good mile. Can this get any better?
We top the day with a hike into the sunset, summiting a tuff cone with a hypersaline crater lake. The hike leads us through a wonderful dry forest, with many plants flowering, finches and warblers chirping and the vast flanks of the giant volcanoes as a backdrop. This perfect world is telling us very clearly that we are truly insignificant in the great scheme of things.
