Southern Isabela Island
Our expedition around the Galápagos Islands continued today. A spectacular sunrise woke us up, unveiling the extraordinary landscapes of the western side of the archipelago. Impressive shield volcanoes surrounded us in a kind of magical and mysterious conjunction with blue waters and sky.
The National Geographic Islander was slowly heading to the vicinities of AlcedoVolcano. After breakfast we made a wet landing at Urbina Bay on a black volcanic sand beach riddled with turtle tracks up to the nesting area in the dunes.
Urbina Bay is famous for an event that took place there in 1954; a stretch of coastline of approximately three square miles was uplifted by almost twelve feet! It is amazing to be walking inland and discover the remnants of tube worms, shells, and various types of coral so far from the shoreline as it exists today. During the walk we were fortunate to observe the Galápagos land iguana nesting territories. We observed at a very close range several of the largest and most colorful land iguanas in the archipelago. After the walk we had plenty of time at the beach to swim and relax.
Once back on board, we continued having fun, for a diving and swimming session was organized from the ship. It was amusing to observe the joy and excitement that we all had.
During lunch time the National Geographic Islander was repositioned to the southernmost part of Isabela Island to Punta Moreno. This site is found between two large volcanoes, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul. These beautiful shield volcanoes dominate the scene in this remote location. The huge dark lava flows observed around Punta Moreno look so strikingly recent that we could not avoid thinking that we were back in time.
Our afternoon excursions included a couple of choices; one of them was a long hike along the recent lava flows interspersed with lagoons containing brackish waters teeming with wildlife. The second option was a Zodiac cruise along the coastline of Punta Moreno. We spotted several endangered Pacific green sea turtles swimming placidly in paradisiacal mangrove areas. This experience is by itself, unforgettable. In addition to the sea turtles we spotted many Galápagos sea lions, Sally light foot crabs, marine iguanas and, best of all, many endemic flightless cormorants as well.
We can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will bring to our expedition around this enchanted archipelago.
