Visiting Isabela Island

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The boat to Isabela island left early at 6am and was completely full without a space left on the boat. It took two hours on the quick speed boats to arrive at the Island from Santa Cruz. When we arrived at the port, the water was crystal blue clear and there were dozens of sealions resting on the pier not phased by the incoming traffic of tourists passing by onto the Island. A full day with itinerary was planned. I was paired up with two couples, one from Korea and another from Chile. The five of us headed towards a lake where we could see some wild flamingos and other native birds of the island. It was quite impressive, but we weren't able to get up too close because the muddy lagoon was far below. We made our way a few minutes down the road to a turtle breeding centre, where thousands of native giant Galapagos turtles were being bred in an attempt to reintroduce populations to the islands. They really did seem like giants and it was quite amazing to see turtles of such a size. Afterwards we went on a marine life and snorkeling tour where we were able to see iguanas, penguins, turtles, sea horses, starfish and even a white tip shark. I was begining to think that you are unlucky if you don't get to see animals up close on the Galapagos Islands. At the end of the day we ate in a local restaurant and spoke about travelling around Ecuador and South America and why we wanted to visit the Galapagos. It was a great meal and an action packed day. We all left early to sleep, as another early rise and full day of hiking the Volcano awaits.

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