Urbina Bay & Tagus Cove, Isabela Island
What a wonderful day!
In the morning we woke up in Urbina Bay for our visit to the largest of all Galápagos Islands, Isabela. We were in the southwestern part of the archipelago, and we disembarked on a platform which had been underwater for many years. One day in the year 1954, a magmatic pressure uplifted this underwater realm, and today it reveals an impressive ecology to our visitors. Today we searched for land iguanas and coral heads. It sounds hard to believe but this is the only place to have such a duality.
The sky was overcast and along the coastline we felt a comforting breeze that kept us cool while walking. Then we started walking inland. We lost the breeze in certain places and felt hot and as we continued on the trail. We realized that this is a very tough place to colonize, live and protect. Today we had a taste of what the Galápagos National Park Service rangers do in order to protect such a wonderful place by patrolling and eradicating invasive species. We saw several Galápagos land iguanas, a Galápagos giant tortoise, different lava formations and many species of plants and birds. At the end of the walk there was a reward waiting for us at the beach, a cool ocean to enjoy!
Back aboard we had another delightful lunch, meanwhile our Captain repositioned the ship for our next site Tagus Cove.
Here we had many choices for activities including kayaking and deep-water snorkeling. Soon after guests had a choice of a Zodiac ride or a hike, which gave guests a taste of what pirates and buccaneers saw when they first arrived here – total isolation, which can easily turn in a frightening experience.
Our expedition goes on. We are now heading to the center part of the archipelago to continue our journey of discovery, until the next time my dear reader.
