Galapagos Island: A Zoologists' Dream: Day 7 - 7/29 - Isabela Island (Day 4 in Galapagos)

Big day à hike, kayak, snorkel, hike No one is required to do any activity but Katie and I are in constant fear of missing something so we pack it all in. All events were on Isabela Island today, which is the largest island made from six different volcanoes. It’s the one shaped like a seahorse on the map.

Urbina Bay Hike – this was the longest hike we’ll do here. Only two miles but we were warned it can be very hot. We started under clouds so not too bad. This was not Katie’s favorite hike but payoff was at the end. Rigorous trail in the beginning because it wound through marine reef that was uplifted 15’ in 1954. Coral was everywhere on the first half mile inland. We saw several yellow land iguanas but many more of their burrows. I was excited to finally see a giant tortoise (~80 yrs old) sitting right in the middle of the path and later we saw a young one half its size. Finches and mockingbirds flitting around but we had a bad problem with paper wasps. They were thick and people were freaking out. No one in our group got stung though. At the end of the hike was what made Katie get over the wasps – we could go for a swim to cool off and the water felt great. Soon after we got in, pelicans and a blue-footed booby started dive-bombing for fish all around us. We got some amazing pics but they were doing this within 6’ of us! Then we noticed some penguins darting around and they would watch the pelicans dive and then speed over to get the scraps. Amazing – we couldn't stop laughing.

Tagus Cove Kayaking – We signed up for the tandem kayaking. It was more for scenery and exercise. We were told we wouldn’t see much wildlife but some neat birds, sea turtles, and a few sea lions arcing out of the water as they went by. We were a little rusty with the paddles but got pretty good coordinating by the end. Oddly, there is a lot of graffiti on the cliffs in this area. How they got to some of those places I have no idea but I wonder the same thing in Chicago.

Tagus Cove Snorkeling – You know you’re spoiled when a gorgeous variety of fish, marine iguanas, and sea turtles are an OK snorkeling day. Then the penguins came. Usually they’re so fast and they zoom by, but we watched a few hunting in this small cove for quite a while – they were seemingly so unaware of us they’d almost bump into us because their focus was down on the fish. Once, they both swam on either side of me so close I could have reached out and touched them. So adorable – they were my highlight snorkeling. Although seeing the flightless cormorant hunting underwater was a thrill also.

Tagus Cove Hike – After snorkeling we had exactly 20 minutes to clean snorkeling gear, dry off, change clothes, and line up for the late afternoon hike. It was a strenuous but scenic hike up 1000’ on the rim of a tuff cone overlooking Darwin Lake. Strange trees, a barren volcanic plain, and some graffiti dating back to 1836 in the stone. This is one of the stops Darwin made on the Beagle in 1835. Gorgeous.

Land Iguana