We spent our day on the island of Isabela. This is the largest island in the archipelago and it is the area with the most recent volcanic activity in the archipelago. This morning we had a walk around an uplifted area, this is known as Urbina Bay. This place is also the home of Galapagos land iguanas which live in areas where one can find evidence of the uplifting, such as large heads of stony white coral and seashells of different species. We had a nice sunny morning and after walking along the trail of Urbina Bay we went swimming from the shore to the ship with guests who wanted to add some more exercise to their morning outing.
At the end of the morning we returned aboard and after a couple of hours of navigation we arrived at Tagus Cove. There we went kayaking and snorkeling from the Zodiacs. Afterwards we returned once more aboard to get ready for an invigorating hike to the top of a cinder cone where we had a great view of Tagus Cove and some of the volcanoes of Isabela Island. For our guests who were more interested in looking for wildlife from the Zodiac, we went on a ride along the volcanic coast. There we found Galapagos penguins, Galapagos martins, marine iguanas, Galapagos sea lions, and some green sea turtles were also spotted.
We are now heading back to the central realm of the archipelago and eager to see what that area will show us over the next couple of days.
