Our navigation took us back along the coast of the seahorse shaped island. We started a fantastic day with an early morning exploration of Urbina Bay, an uplifted area situated at the western coast of Isabela Island. In 1954 almost half a square mile of the marine reef off the coast was uplifted almost instantaneously, with some peaks rising above sea level by 16 feet. These are rocks of lava, solidified underwater, then brought up by the uplifting event.
A wet landing at a sandy beach was the start of the exploration. Tracks of Pacific green sea turtle were seen at the beach, and we could clearly observe where eggs were laid. Once we started the hike into a dry forest the great surprise of the morning was a couple of Galapagos giant tortoises that were hiking along our trail and soon got into the bushes. Some birds were spotted in this hike, such as ground finches, Galapagos mockingbirds, Galapagos flycatchers, and yellow warblers, as well as several more giant tortoises and a large group of land iguanas all along the trail. This most incredible part was to see the giant coral head on the coastline away from the ocean and to photograph such drastic event.
Once everyone was back on board the National Geographic Islander we navigated towards Tagus Cove. This is an important place featuring part of the human history of the islands. Over the centuries wayfarers have found a sheltered harbor at Tagus Cove Bay. This area of Isabela Island was visited by Charles Darwin in 1835. The afternoon was filled up with options, from kayaking to deep water snorkeling and later a Zodiac ride along this amazing coastline or a scenic hike up the rim of a tuff cone. During snorkeling we spotted a few spotted eagle rays, white-tipped reef sharks, a few Galapagos sea lions playing with us, and several Pacific green sea turtles. The big show was to see the Galapagos penguins fishing and feasting on a school of bait fish right in front of us. After the snorkeling outing, some of us went hiking along the tuff cones of Tagus, to see a crater lake surrounded by the resistant incense tree forest.
What an amazing day, full of wildlife and experiences for a lifetime.
