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Published: June 11th 2014
Small Island with Cool Exposed Rock Face
We passed it on our way to Elizabeth BayOvernight we had sailed to the west side of the largest island, Isabella. The morning activity was a Zodiac ride to see Elizabeth Bay (no hiking or swimming). In deference to our sleep-deprived kids, we took the option of the later start which was appreciated but still didn’t result in everyone being ready to go on time. We did manage to catch our ride and enjoyed the tour through a network of small lava outcroppings. The protected calm inlets are hospitable to mangrove trees which give the whole area a very lush feel, although they barely conceal swaths of black desolate lava. We saw Galapagos penguins and also the flightless Galapagos cormorant. We spotted a few green sea turtles and also Eagle rays. After lunch there was an opportunity for deep water snorkeling in Tagus bay on the coast of Isabella. We were delivered by Zodiac to one end of the bay and then swam all along the steep coastline to get picked up on the other end. We saw more fish, sea turtles and rays as well as swimming penguins and a cormorant. John followed a cormorant on a hunting trip and when it surfaced, John surfaced too to find
Penguino
Yes, Penguins at the equator. There are a few thousand of these small Galapagos penguins on the island. They are somewhat adapted to the heat, but are probably looking forward to the coming cooler season. himself nose to nose with the bird who stared back, unfazed with its deep blue eyes. After snorkeling we had only a brief break before the afternoon hike on Isabella up to a peak with a sweeping view of the island’s west coast. We hiked past “Darwin’s lake,” a brackish lake in a volcanic cone and then up the hillside to the peak. The area we hiked through was populated with xxxx trees in a fairly regular pattern, and finches and lava lizards were plentiful along the trail. In contrast, as we crested the hill, we could see a vast desolate lava field on the northern part of the island that receives no rain. We stopped for pictures at the top of the in a driving wind. Back on board we were greeted with a tray of “blue-footed boobies”, the cocktail of the day -- a bit sweet, but quite tasty, and they didn’t skimp on the alcohol. We followed the usual evening routine: briefing on tomorrow's activities, dinner with strangers, wind-down in the stateroom, sleep like stones.
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