Frontiers Note: Lara MacDonald is from the Frontiers UK office. She shares her spectacular experience during a recent trip to the Galápagos Islands. This is part four in the series.
For our second day in the western part of the archipelago, we explored the coast of Isabela Island. Isabela is by far the largest island in the Galápagos making up just over half the total surface area of the archipelago! It was created by the fusion of six enormous shield volcanoes which gave rise to the ‘seahorse’ shape of the island.
Taking advantage of the freshest hour of the day to observe the wildlife we began our activities before breakfast (for early risers coffee, fruit and pastries were available in the lounge from 6:00 a.m.) a wise decision considering the heat quickly reached suffocating temperatures in one of the hottest months of the year in the Galápagos. We’d been advised to avoid wearing yellow and white clothing this morning as these colours attract wasps which are prevalent on this island due to the dense vegetation found here. We boarded the Zodiacs at 6:30am for the short boat ride to Urbina Bay (at the base of Alcedo Volcano) passing lots of sea turtles in the water on our way.
Another wet landing, this time on a turtle nesting beach. I was glad I’d purchased a pair of water shoes for these wet landings but for those who didn’t have appropriate footwear, towels were provided on the beach so you could dry off your feet and put on closed shoes for the trail walk. This attention to detail was prevalent throughout the trip.
We had been told that on rare occasions giant tortoises are found at this site (they are typically found in the lush vegetation of the highlands). Spanish sailors who discovered the archipelago in 1535 actually named it after the abundant tortoises; the Spanish word for tortoise is galápago. Hunted as food by pirates, whalers, and merchants during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, more than 100,000 tortoises are estimated to have been killed off. Non-native species such as feral pigs, dogs, cats, rats, goats, and cattle are a continuing threat to their food supply and eggs.
Today, only about 15,000 remain and tortoises are now listed as endangered and have been protected by the Ecuadorian government. But luck was on our side….the long, loop trail led us away from the beach and into the arid zone of the island and it was here that we spotted our first giant tortoise grazing on moistened vegetation. We were lucky enough to see a total of seven giant tortoises in the wild (one of whom was right in the middle of the path going in the same direction as us so we trailed behind it before it soon disappeared under the thick vegetation to escape the sun, probably not resuming activities until late in the afternoon when cooler). We also saw some land iguanas which are common here – the ones we saw here were very yellow and bigger than those we’d seen on other islands (apparently as a result of the availability of food/vegetation). It had clearly rained last night. The leaves were covered in droplets, yellow cordia flowers were out and there was a wonderful fresh and spicy smell of humid earth and as we walked back towards the beach we were serenaded by the bird song of the yellow warbler.
We returned to the ship for a leisurely late breakfast.
After breakfast there was the opportunity to return to the beach at Urbina Bay for a refreshing swim; snorkelling is not usually worthwhile here because of beach turbulance. Meanwhile, the five children on board were invited to have a zodiac driving lesson as part of the Young Explorers programme. A ‘Mega Swim’ was offered for those of us wanting a bit of a challenge …886 yards from the shore, through turtle, pelican and ray-infested waters back to the National Geographic Endeavour II! I swam with a rash vest and goggles; others chose to use fins and masks. We were cheered on by those accompanying us in zodiacs. When we arrived back at the ship we were treated to a refreshing glass of lemonade and basil plus freshly baked cookies.
There was time for a hot shower before I joined naturalist Jean Roch de Susanne in the Lounge for his presentation on Charles Darwin, his theory of evolution by natural selection and its implications today. Some preferred to rest up in their cabin or lounge on deck with a book from the ship’s library.
During the special Ecuadorian buffet lunch of ceviche (raw fresh fish marinated in citrus juice), suckling pig and tres leches cake (a delicious sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream) the crew shared their knowledge about Ecuadorean culture.
After lunch there was another opportunity to join Celso in the lounge for more photo instruction on iPhones, semi-professional and professional cameras.
There were several activities to choose from this afternoon including kayaking and paddle boarding but Henrietta and I chose the deep water snorkeling in Tagus Cove. My snokelling buddy and I joined Jason’s group again and we saw green sea turtles, octopus, penguins but most exciting was a flightless cormorant diving underwater propelling itself forward with its webbed feet and powerful, solid legs as it moved through the ocean in search of food. Jason managed to capture this encounter on video.
Meanwhile, the ship repositioned a few miles north to Tagus Cove. This spot had been frequented by ships (including the HMS Beagle in 1835) since the 1800s using the area as an anchorage site and the name Tagus, we were told, comes from an English war ship that passed by the islands in 1814 looking for giant tortoises.
We went ashore late afternoon for the day’s final activity. There was some interesting historic graffiti to be found near the landing site – our naturalist guide, Jean, told us that many of the early visitors wrote their names on the cliffs along the shore, the oldest being the Phoenix in 1836. He told us many stories of visitors – pirates and whalers – to this protected area. It was a short steep hike up the rim of the tuff cone overlooking Darwin Lake. The normally dry forest of palo santo trees was green and fertile and the view was stunning. After stopping several times for panoramic shots we had to walk fast to be back before sunset. Non-hikers enjoyed a Zodiac ride along the coastline looking for penguins, flightless cormorants and other surprises.
Time for another shower before making our way to the lounge for cocktails whilst Cindy recapped on the day we’d had and briefed us about the following day’s activities. We were treated to some of the underwater encounters Jason had captured on video from today’s deep sea snorkelling.
Video courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions.