Western Isabela Island
After a very calm night anchored at Fernandina Island, we kept on track with our journey and by seven in the morning we had reach Urvina Bay, at the base of the central most volcano of Isabela Island; Alcedo. A bright sun promised us a warm hike and the tepid water encouraged all of us to consider at least one fast dip once the hike was over.
So as we arrived to the end of our morning walk, we discovered a couple of inquisitive juvenile Galápagos hawks looking for food along the tide line. We also observed the evidence of a geological event that took place in 1954; Urbina Bay was uplifted from the bottom of the sea about 15 feet high. We encounter heads of coral, shells, sand dollars, and snails far in the interior of Urbina. This is also the home of Galápagos land iguanas and it is the mating season.
Once we returned aboard from Urbina Bay, we set sail to Punta Moreno; there the extensive lava flows from centuries ago are frozen. We looked for wildlife in this rather unusual place; everywhere one looks around we are surrounded by miles and miles of dark lava, but when one explores a bit more, then we find a few ponds of water where life abounds, and these small patches of life are engulfed by an ocean of lava. We also went on a Zodiac ride to look for penguins, iguanas, turtles and incredible vegetation like prickly pear cactus growing close to the ocean side.
There and behind our backs stayed Isabela and its giant volcanoes while we arrived to the ship, we see the last sunrays disappearing behind the horizon.
