Isabela Island
The Galapagos Islands are a unique archipelago, and today we had a fantastic taste of them by visiting the western islands. The best way to begin exploration was to visit early one of the iconic places of western Isabela: Urbina Bay, early in the morning. A comfortable wet landing got us ready to get into exploration. Once we started a hike into a dry forest, the first surprise of the island was a young giant tortoise that was resting under poison apple trees.
Farther into the trail, a symphony of nature was played by the different kinds of land birds found in the area: Galapagos mockingbirds flying from tree to tree, ground finches feeding on the seeds on the sandy ground, and Galapagos flycatchers that were so curious to come into camera lenses.
Once we reached the farthest point of the visitor site, it was time to enjoy the presence of one of the most iconic reptiles of the Galapagos: land iguanas. The magnificence of the place was shown as the colors of nature were the perfect contrast, combining vivid colors from green leaves, black lava rocks, and brown tree branches. At the end of exploration, we had a delightful moment swimming at Urbina bay beach.
Once back on board the National Geographic Islander, it was time to get everything ready in order to continue with the adventure, so we pulled anchor and started navigating to our next destination. In the afternoon, exploration just got better, and a good way to begin was to get into the water and enjoy the marvels of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. As soon as we came into the water, the magic of the underwater world gave us an awe-inspiring experience: colorful reef fishes were found covering the lava rocks, juvenile grunts were the main attraction of the activity as we saw thousands of them all over the area. Green sea turtles were swimming from rock to rock, but the most attractive companions were the Galapagos penguins that were swimming from one side to the other along the cliffs.
The next activity was a marvelous hike to Tagus Cove, one of the most historical places of the Galapagos Islands. The magnificence of the place was shown once we reached the end of the trail in a charming view of the northern side of Isabela Island. At the end of today’s exploration we enjoyed a fantastic sunset as the sunlight made a magnificent contrast against the giant shield volcanoes found in the area. Today it couldn’t get better in the living paradise of the Galapagos Islands.
