Isabela Island
Waking up bathed by the soft light of a sunrise is a wonderful thing to experience. The experience would be extrapolated a thousand times when that happens in a place that is meaningful and special for you. What if, beyond special, it becomes magical? Well, I am right now in that magical place called Galápagos and I just experienced that feeling…does that make you jealous? I am sorry if it did, as that was definitely not my intention! My only intention here is to let you know the kind of feelings that a place like this could awake in you.
As soon as I stepped into the outer corridors of the ship, the already strong sunlight hit me right on the face, taking me into a fully awake mode. It was simply outstanding to see the town of Pto. Villamil surrounded by sleeping volcanoes, just as the city seemed to be. It was early in the morning and even some of the street lamps’ lights were still on. As we dropped the ship’s anchor, the sound emanated by it simulated the sound coming from the volcanic explosion that not too long ago awoke the whole town in 1998.
Pto. Villamil is a rather little city, right on the edge of becoming a tourist destination for the Galápagos. Its incredible potential for providing many different options to our expedition is what took us here today.
Our guests had the chance to choose between different levels of activities. One of them took us to the very top of Sierra Negra volcano. The promise of a magnificent view of one of the largest caldera in the world made some of our guests walk ten miles round trip to accomplish this task.
Some of us decided to take the morning a little easier, and walk only a mile and a half to the main giant tortoise breeding center to observe these ancient and prehistoric-looking reptiles. The long white-coral beach located in from of town’s main street looked very invited for swimming, so after the visit to the breeding center, a quick swim was ideal.
The afternoon was just as nice! A Zodiac ride combined with the exploration of an area where white-tipped reef sharks usually hang out was picked up by some of our guests, while some others decided to explore the somewhat “dark past” of this town, visiting the ruins of the old penal colony named “the wall of tears” (shown in the picture).
By the end of the day, with the pure satisfaction of having done what we wanted to do, we gathered at a local restaurant to enjoy a refreshing beer, some snacks, and the best of all…the chatting with nice friends full of histories ready to be shared!
Waking up bathed by the soft light of a sunrise is a wonderful thing to experience. The experience would be extrapolated a thousand times when that happens in a place that is meaningful and special for you. What if, beyond special, it becomes magical? Well, I am right now in that magical place called Galápagos and I just experienced that feeling…does that make you jealous? I am sorry if it did, as that was definitely not my intention! My only intention here is to let you know the kind of feelings that a place like this could awake in you.
As soon as I stepped into the outer corridors of the ship, the already strong sunlight hit me right on the face, taking me into a fully awake mode. It was simply outstanding to see the town of Pto. Villamil surrounded by sleeping volcanoes, just as the city seemed to be. It was early in the morning and even some of the street lamps’ lights were still on. As we dropped the ship’s anchor, the sound emanated by it simulated the sound coming from the volcanic explosion that not too long ago awoke the whole town in 1998.
Pto. Villamil is a rather little city, right on the edge of becoming a tourist destination for the Galápagos. Its incredible potential for providing many different options to our expedition is what took us here today.
Our guests had the chance to choose between different levels of activities. One of them took us to the very top of Sierra Negra volcano. The promise of a magnificent view of one of the largest caldera in the world made some of our guests walk ten miles round trip to accomplish this task.
Some of us decided to take the morning a little easier, and walk only a mile and a half to the main giant tortoise breeding center to observe these ancient and prehistoric-looking reptiles. The long white-coral beach located in from of town’s main street looked very invited for swimming, so after the visit to the breeding center, a quick swim was ideal.
The afternoon was just as nice! A Zodiac ride combined with the exploration of an area where white-tipped reef sharks usually hang out was picked up by some of our guests, while some others decided to explore the somewhat “dark past” of this town, visiting the ruins of the old penal colony named “the wall of tears” (shown in the picture).
By the end of the day, with the pure satisfaction of having done what we wanted to do, we gathered at a local restaurant to enjoy a refreshing beer, some snacks, and the best of all…the chatting with nice friends full of histories ready to be shared!
