On Day 3 we made our way back to Isabela Island, directly across from Fernandina Island. We had an optional early morning excursion to “Urbina Bay” to see Galapagos Tortoises that nearly everybody went on. After a 0600 wake up call we boarded the pangas and were greeted by this gorgeous partial rainbow.
Upon disembarking we walked over the sand berm and came across more Galapagos Sea Turtle nesting grounds.
Almost immediately after leaving the beach we ran across several Galapagos Tortoises. These are land based as opposed to the Sea Turtles.
This one was munching away on the grass.
There are a number of gorgeous flowers on the islands, including this Yellow Cordia (Gabby, a naturalist onboard just told me the name…thanks Gabby!)
A little further along the trail, our naturalist guide Bolo pointed out this Galapagos Land Iguana, which is just as ugly as the Marine Iguana.
We ran across another tortoise hiding in the brush, eyeing me with a hint of suspicion.
We walked further up the trail, and then backtracked to head towards the beach, and I’m pretty sure this was the tortoise in the prior photo, marching up the trail towards us. I think he really did suspect me of something!
That’s Gabby in front of her group behind the tortoise.
We were able to get a nice Christmas Card (#2 if you are counting) shot with this guy, or was it a girl? I’ll have to ask naturalist Bolo, the “Tortoise Whisperer”.
As we were nearing the beach to head back, this tortoise came walking up the path towards us. They were surprisingly active, but maybe that’s because it was so early in the day and not very hot yet.
Galapagos Tortoise Strolling up the Path
Urbina Bay is so beautiful at this time of day!
Our yacht showed a short documentary about Charles Darwin as we cruised north to our next spot, Tagus Cove. Upon arrival at Tagus Cove, we had our second snorkeling adventure, where we saw a lot more fish and a Galapagos Penguin underwater. I got tired out just trying to follow him!
After lunch, we boarded ocean kayaks and cruised around the cove. The next few photos are some of our yacht mates on the kayaks. First up are Gwen and Ron from Toronto.
Then Margo and Jim from Ohio.
Margo and Jim’s daughters, Jess and Morgan, got hauled around the ship by the panga. Apparently this is against the rules, so hopefully the driver didn’t get in too much trouble. It looked like fun regardless!
This is Dave and Ann from Chicago.
We were part of the second wave of kayaks, and I don’t have shot of us in the kayak, but I do have a shot of a Galapagos Penguin (notice how every animal name here starts with Galapagos?)that I took from the kayak.
Our last excursion of the day was in the same Tagus Cove, a hike up into a volcanic area with an excellent view. This is a view from just above our landing spot.
The hike started out with a bunch of steps up to gain elevation.
There were several little rest spots along the way. The lake to the right is actually salt water that filters from the ocean into a volcanic cone.
This was an excellent spot to show off the lake and the adjoining Tagus Cove.
A good shot of Fletcher at the top of the hike, looking like he’s enjoying the experience.
Christmas card photo (#3) from the summit of the hike. The photo is looking north along Isabela Island.
This is the view of Darwin Volcano from our summit.
Finally, a group photo of our hiking group, with Gabby, naturalist extraordinaire, on the far left. All in all it was a great day!
Next up, we head to Bartolome Island for an epic view, more snorkeling, a shit ton of dolphins and a visit to James Island. Yeah, I’m only three days behind!
Looks like a fantastic family trip!!