Southern Isabela Island
Today is a very special day! It’s Navidad and Merry Christmas from the Galápagos Islands to you all.
We spent the morning exploring Urbina Bay, western flank of Alcedo volcano. Here, approximately more than three miles of the shore line were uplifted as much as fourteen feet above the sea level back in 1954. This fabulous geological event was documented and reported by the passing ship that happened to be around when the geological event occurred. This catastrophic but extraordinary event provoked that enormous pieces of coral, as well as many other marine organisms, were literally exposed to the air almost instantaneously.
The two hiking options that we offered around Urbina Bay were highly successful. In both, we observed several colorful Galápagos land iguanas. In fact, we noted some males were displaying a breeding color. After the hikes our bodies were certainly feeling the effects of the equatorial sun. A quick refreshing dip off the black beach was enjoyed by most of us and it certainly felt great.
The afternoon found us anchored at our second destination of the day, Punta Moreno. For the more adventurous a “lava hike” across these vast pahoehoe lava flows was a treat. The lava hikers had the rewarding experience to walk across the barren lava flows and, in this oasis, some well-fed flamingoes were spotted. Later, on the way back to the ship we went panga cruising along the mangrove lagoon and some marble stingrays entertained us for awhile and some flightless cormorants with chicks were admired at a close range from the Zodiacs.
Today is a very special day! It’s Navidad and Merry Christmas from the Galápagos Islands to you all.
We spent the morning exploring Urbina Bay, western flank of Alcedo volcano. Here, approximately more than three miles of the shore line were uplifted as much as fourteen feet above the sea level back in 1954. This fabulous geological event was documented and reported by the passing ship that happened to be around when the geological event occurred. This catastrophic but extraordinary event provoked that enormous pieces of coral, as well as many other marine organisms, were literally exposed to the air almost instantaneously.
The two hiking options that we offered around Urbina Bay were highly successful. In both, we observed several colorful Galápagos land iguanas. In fact, we noted some males were displaying a breeding color. After the hikes our bodies were certainly feeling the effects of the equatorial sun. A quick refreshing dip off the black beach was enjoyed by most of us and it certainly felt great.
The afternoon found us anchored at our second destination of the day, Punta Moreno. For the more adventurous a “lava hike” across these vast pahoehoe lava flows was a treat. The lava hikers had the rewarding experience to walk across the barren lava flows and, in this oasis, some well-fed flamingoes were spotted. Later, on the way back to the ship we went panga cruising along the mangrove lagoon and some marble stingrays entertained us for awhile and some flightless cormorants with chicks were admired at a close range from the Zodiacs.
