Urbina Bay & Punta Moreno, Southern Isabela Island
We dropped anchor off the western shore of Isabela just before Tyrone announced that the breakfast buffet was ready. This morning we had fast long, slow long and short hike options, so everyone was able to hike at their preferred pace. We explored the coast line and found evidence of the 1954 uplift of this area. Due to a shifting of magma underground, one and a half square kilometers of the marine reef was uplifted by as much as 4 meters so fast that turtles, lobsters, and other marine species were left stranded. We can still find disintegrating coral heads over a kilometer inland, marine encrustations on most of the lava rocks and the rounded lava pebbles and coarse sand that demonstrate where the original beach once was.
Along the short and long trails we observed dozens of land iguana burrows, scats and trail drag marks in the sand; finally we found the brightly colored beasts that left all these signs, the iguanas themselves. The hikers all found between two and five of the large, yellow land iguanas, close enough to our trail to get wonderful pictures of these unusual animals. I led the short hikers and we were delighted to find two small juvenile tortoises not far inland from the landing beach! Unfortunately by the time the rest of the guests came along the slow moving reptiles had retreated to the shade and could no longer be seen.
Ernesto gave a presentation about Charles Darwin following siesta, and shortly afterwards we sent the “lava hikers” by Zodiac in to the broken and expansive lava flows that stretch between Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. We had a brisk walk on the barren lava, admired a few tough colonizing plant species and were surprised to come upon several brackish pools where lush green vegetation contrasted with three brilliant pink flamingos.
Other guests took a Zodiac ride with Ernesto and witnessed a feeding frenzy of blue-footed boobies, found two species of rays and several sea turtles in the mangrove lagoons and, as the sun set, were entertained by penguins, sea lions and enormous marine iguanas all sharing a white washed lava shelf. Our pangueros picked the lava hikers up and took them on a short Zodiac ride, too. The late afternoon light was perfect for photography and once again we returned contentedly to the ship, our spirits soaring, following yet another marvelous day in the enchanted islands.
We dropped anchor off the western shore of Isabela just before Tyrone announced that the breakfast buffet was ready. This morning we had fast long, slow long and short hike options, so everyone was able to hike at their preferred pace. We explored the coast line and found evidence of the 1954 uplift of this area. Due to a shifting of magma underground, one and a half square kilometers of the marine reef was uplifted by as much as 4 meters so fast that turtles, lobsters, and other marine species were left stranded. We can still find disintegrating coral heads over a kilometer inland, marine encrustations on most of the lava rocks and the rounded lava pebbles and coarse sand that demonstrate where the original beach once was.
Along the short and long trails we observed dozens of land iguana burrows, scats and trail drag marks in the sand; finally we found the brightly colored beasts that left all these signs, the iguanas themselves. The hikers all found between two and five of the large, yellow land iguanas, close enough to our trail to get wonderful pictures of these unusual animals. I led the short hikers and we were delighted to find two small juvenile tortoises not far inland from the landing beach! Unfortunately by the time the rest of the guests came along the slow moving reptiles had retreated to the shade and could no longer be seen.
Ernesto gave a presentation about Charles Darwin following siesta, and shortly afterwards we sent the “lava hikers” by Zodiac in to the broken and expansive lava flows that stretch between Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. We had a brisk walk on the barren lava, admired a few tough colonizing plant species and were surprised to come upon several brackish pools where lush green vegetation contrasted with three brilliant pink flamingos.
Other guests took a Zodiac ride with Ernesto and witnessed a feeding frenzy of blue-footed boobies, found two species of rays and several sea turtles in the mangrove lagoons and, as the sun set, were entertained by penguins, sea lions and enormous marine iguanas all sharing a white washed lava shelf. Our pangueros picked the lava hikers up and took them on a short Zodiac ride, too. The late afternoon light was perfect for photography and once again we returned contentedly to the ship, our spirits soaring, following yet another marvelous day in the enchanted islands.
