Fri, 29 Mar - Part 1

Tagus Cove - Isabela Island
--Pirates HangOut and Volcano Hike
--Snorkeling


big day today ... breakfast at 6:30 and ready for another hike at 7:20am ... we're still on the west coast of Isabela Island .... it has a lot of coastline ... with lots to see ....

map for today ....


View Isabela Island & Fernandina Island in a larger map

  
dry landing .... we walked past a lot of graffiti and carvings on the side of the volcano, this was started by the Pirates, and continued until several years ago when it was banned, thankfully   


we had to coax this Sea Lion to give up his nap in the early morning sun, so we could climb the stairs .... he wasn't any too happy about it either ....

we hiked to the rim of a caldera that is filled with salt water.   this 'lake' is 1,000 feet above the sea below it .... and it has SALT water in it ... hummmmmmmmmmm, .... how did it get there?   ... a tsunami from one of the volcanic eruptions ...  seems impossible, but .... that's what Washington said ...   pretty view from up here ... you can see Yolita II out in the cove ....

then we hiked over to the other side, for a view of the most northern end of Isabela ... looking out at 3 volcanos:  Darwin, Ecuador and Wolf ....  and the lava fields below ..

there were more Penguins playing in the water when we got in and out of our dingy ... and some Flightless Cormorants on the rocks ..

we finished our hike about 9am ... got back and had 20min to grab our snorkel gear for our first snorkel of the day ....we get TWO snorkels today !!!!!!!!!!

***

by 9:30, we were snorkeling just outside of Tagus Cove ..... it was pretty rough and choppy; but whenever you are outside the protection of a cove, it's like that.   we snorkeled around there for awhile ...

we saw sharks and a few turtles and i saw my first Harlequin Wrasse .... they come in variations of orange, yellow, black and white ... although you may see them around the other islands, they are known best around western Isabela and Fernandina ...

a little Penguin dashed past me ...

a good example of why these are called YELLOW-TAILED Surgeon Fish ....  now that's a yellow tail ...

i also saw this Golden Yellow Phase of a Bacalao, also known as a Golden Grouper .... he wasn't hard to miss .... the 'normal' color is brownish ...  i like yellow better  :) ...

the plan was to stay outside the cove, but since it was so rough, we got back into the dingys and went into the cove where it was calmer.     here there were beautiful Sea Stars ...

many of them strung together ....

Washington took this photo after he turned one upside down so you can see the 'mouth' ....

and a Flightless Cormorant swimming and fishing ...

i  feel sorry for the way these birds have to hunt.    .....they have no idea where their food is, other than in the water under/in some rock or crevice ....

they just have to go poking their nose in until they find something... holding their breath!   ....   other birds at least SEE something before they go for it.   poor them  :(    ...

this video shows how hard they have to work for their food .... luckily he gets just a little something ....   (i have not been able to embed this for some reason) .... it is on YouTube....   click here on this link:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8gO2KyS44c

***

about 10:30 we got back in the dingy to go t the boat, ........
we all agreed this was a great snorkeling morning ... the waters were calm and we saw a lot of fish ... that's me smiling  :) ....

.... but we noticed that Yolita II was leaving the cove without us !!!!   huh????      everyone was whistling and waving fins ... it was several minutes, but they finally returned for us.   since we were supposed to snorkel outside of the cove, they were headed there to pick us up   :)   ... it was kind of funny ...

back on the boat and we had 20min to get ready for lunch;  during lunch the boat sailed to Fernandina Island, the youngest and most volcanically active island of the Galapagos.


the rest of the day continues in Part 2 .....

Thurs, 28 May - Part 2

West Side of Isabela Island
-Urbina Bay, a Walking Tour of a Dry Sea Floor
-- Giant Tortoises and Land Iguanas


same map ....






we returned from snorkeling around 2pm ... quick turn-around time of about 20min ... share the shower, rinse all my gear, wet suit, booties, and camera .... change clothes, grab hat, sunscreen, bug repellent, shoes, new battery for camera ...

and back in our dingy for another land tour ...

***

Urbina Bay is located at the base of Alcedo Volcano.  

it is famous because of a relatively recent (1954) geological event, which caused a mass of land to uplift out of the water 16 feet in this shallow bay.     it expanded the coast 3/4 of a mile out into the sea.

it was noticed by passing fishermen who smelled the stench of rotting marine life:  the land was pushed out of the water so fast that the fish, lobsters and other sea creatures could not escape ....   they were left 'high and dry' ... and did not survive    :(

it was a wet landing on a black sandy beach ...

we walked inland ... and started seeing Tortoises walking the path ...

this time of year, they travel from the highlands to sea level to feed and stock up for breeding season.    ... so we saw more than Washington expected us to see   :)   ...

these feet carry a heavy load ...

they are so comical looking sometimes ....

video of a Tortoise walking the path as if he owned the place  ...

we also saw the pretty gold-colored Land Iguanas !!!!!!!!!!!       ... here are some of the largest Land Iguanas of the islands ...   3-5 feet in length and up to 25# !!!!!!!!   ....

they definitely are not afraid of people ... i took a video of this guy for a couple minutes, but he never moved ... not much of a 'video' ...

we saw many burrows that they use for defense, to conserve body heat, and to lay eggs ....   

this photo is courtesy of John Black, a friend on the Cruise that was fortunate enough to be on the 16-day Cruise, so he was on our boat before we got there ..... a Land Iguana eating a Prickly Pear as a source of water ...

Washington told us that the Iguanas have a '3rd Eye', visible as a pale scale in the center of their forehead, which senses light and dark and alerts them to aerial predators .... you should be able to see it in this photo ....

they seem to be well-feed .... nap time ...

the path went through some heavy vegetation, and got kinda rocky .... it was a 'wet landing' so most everyone was wearing 'flip flops' .... not appropriate footware for this walk.    i guess we all missed the part of Washington's briefing where he said 'rocky path'   :(

and wet with a rocky bottom ...  glad i had my Keens's on   :)  ....

the path went through what was once the ocean floor ... it was like we were walking on the dry sea bottom, with the remants of shells and corals, ...including this huge Brain Coral ....

we also came across the remains of 2 dead tortoises .... (not related to the 1954 event)

this recent one, had enough of an 'odor' that you didn't want to get too close to it ....

our return walk was along the shore, that was once under water ....

 at 4:30 we returned to the boat .... and watched the sunset over Fernandino Island ... the youngest of the volcanic Galapagos Islands  ... and ... where we will be tomorrow ...

Commentary:  
as i re-live these last 8 days of my trip, i am even more acutely aware of how fortunate i am to have experienced this incredible one-of-a-kind 'gem' of our Earth.    those 8 days went by so quickly and were so jam-packed with wonderful events, that i didn't really have a chance to take it all in, except on a superficial level, .... didn't quite appreciate and grasp all that i was experiencing .... it's been great for me to go through these photos with a deepening gratitude.

Thurs, 28 Mar - Part 1

West Side of Isabela Island - Part 1

-Elizabeth Bay - Flightless Cormorants, Penguins & Mangrove Cruise
-Urbina Bay - Snorkel with a New "Find"

this morning we woke up in Elizabeth Bay, still on the coast of Isabela Island, on the west side now ..... from here you can see 5 active volcanoes, all on the Island of Isabela:  Fernandina, Cerra Azul, Sierra Negra, Alcedo, and Darwin .... but i couldn't really see them ....  :(

map for today ... zoom and click away ...




you don't set foot on this part of the island ....
but we did take an 8am dingy cruise along the shore where we saw one little scruffy little Galapagos Penguin, who was shedding his feathers ... they molt 2x per year, (other penguins only molt 1x per/yr), it takes 2-5 wks to complete the process and they do not enter the water during this period because they would get cold with no feathers ... that means no eating .... glad i'm not a Penguin ! ....

you can see how small they are incomparison to the Blue Footed Boobie on the right, above it ..

we also got a look at our first Flightless Cormorant Birds ... here they are 'flightless', and have these scrawny excuses for wings ...

when they arrived here, they found that there was no food for them ... so they became proficient at swimming for their food, and eventually lost their ability to fly ...  

proof that  .... 'if you don't use it, you lose it'   :(


the other dingy was looking and pointing at some ducks in the water ... i wondered what kind they were because we haven't seen any ducks out here .....   ha   ... they were little penguins in the water ....

they do look just like large ducks ....

so cute ...

then we entered the calm waters around the Mangrove Maze.    the guys turned off the motor and used a paddle to move quietly through the Mangrove Lagoon ...

we saw a few Golden CowRays slowly swimming around, ....they were cool, but not near as impressive was the ones at night around the dock in San Cristobal ....

i didn't have my underwater camera, but Hendrik hung over the side of the dingy for an underwater shot ....

and he let me borrow this photo .....thanks Hendrik   ... very cool !  ....

we saw a couple more penguins swimming, a couple sea turtles, and a stingray .... 

i was kind of frustrated because i was not in the dingy with Washington, so i couldn't hear him, plus couldn't see what they were pointing at  :(   .... wha wha whine ...

this would have really been a nice place to spend time in a kayak, just cruising around seeing what you could see ... but, not a chance ... you can ONLY get here on a Cruise ship  ... most of these places you can only get to on a Cruise ship ...

***

we returned to the boat around 9:30 .... and cruised north to Urbina Bay while we ate lunch ...
our room was just behind this staircase, in the very front of the boat ...

we arrived at Urbina Bay ... also marked on the Google map above...


a lot of tours don't allow you to snorkel in this bay, because the water is choppy and often murky ... but Washington knew we all liked snorkeling.    so, we went for a snorkel ... yeahhh  :)

the water was rough and choppy, and cold  (although i was comfortable in my wet suit).    it was an interesting area.   lots of Giant DamselFish, usually i've only seen them alone .....

and i saw a Bumphead DamselFish .....

we saw a lot of turtles eating the bright green algae that this area is famous for.   but none of the turtles were very interested in hanging out with us, which is unusual ... we are, after all, a fun group ...

i did have a VERY interesting 'find'   .... i'm calling it a Leopard Shark, only because it has 'leopard-like' markings ... but it's not in my Galapagos Marine book, and i don't find anything exactly like it on line ....

it wasn't very big ... only about 18" ...

maybe i found a new species :) ...

i was able to follow it around for a while, so i have a video ....

we returned to the boat around 2pm  ....

the rest of the day follows in Part 2  ...

Wed, 27 Mar

Isabela Island - Puerto Villamil

Hike Volcano Sierra Negra and Wall of Tears
Happy Hour  :)


we had a long overnight sail, 10hrs i think ... south and west to Isabela Island .... where i had just spent 18 wonderful days ....


map for today's activities, interactive again:






it always feels good to return to a place you are familiar with   :)    .... we got into a taxi and drove to the start of the hike to climb Sierra Negra Volcano ...

Isabela Island is the largest in the Galapagos, (1,800sqmiles), and for some perspective, still less than half the size of the Island of Hawaii.    there are 6 active volcanos on Isabela Island.  

Volcan Sierra Negra rising to 4,900ft, is the largest and most active, with the latest eruption in 2005; (1979 prior eruption)

it was about an 1hr hike in the sun ..... but well worth the effort ... luckily we had good weather ... the path can be a muddy and slippery climb if it rains .....

the 2005 eruption spilled over and filled the inside of the caldera .... however, Washington told us that it could collapse at any time given that it is not solid because it cooled so fast ... the eruption came from the area behind me ....

the caldera is the largest in all of the Galapagos .... and it is oval, (usually they are circular), ...   5.75 x 4.5 miles  ...

and it is also the shallowest:  only 350 ft deep ...

here is a short panaorama video ....

hiked back out, and got our dingy to the boat ... lunch, hung out until around 3pm when we went back to Puerto Villamil for Part 2 of our Land Tour .... the Wall of Tears ...

since i knew the 'town', .... i suggested that we meet at 5pm for Happy Hour at Casa Rosada Iguana (red iguana) across from Hotel Volcano, .... they had 2 for $6 drinks ...


we got in an 'open-air' bus/truck .... and headed up the road past my last 'home' Hotel Volcano ... to visit the Wall of Tears ....  actually, quite ... unimpressive ....

this location was one of the WWII US radar stations to protect the Panama Canal .... in 1946, 300 prisoners and 30 police came here to create a penal colony, far from the mainland, (no kidding!).    .... construction of a 'wall' to keep prisoners in and to keep them busy was begun, with prisoners being harshly punished.   many died due to exhaustion, accidents, and punishments .... hence the "Wall of Tears"   ..."here the strong cry and the weak die"  ...

no mortar was used, it was unstable, which resulted in deaths during the construction .... 

it was never finished ... top view ...

we also climbed the stairs of Cerro Ochillo ... for a view of Puerto Villamil and the beautiful beach ...

we met a 'wild' Tortoise on the road ... that was exciting for those who hadn't seen one yet ...

i passed on the Tortoise Breeding Center tour since i'd already visited it, .... as well as the one on San Cristobal and Santa Cruz.   i never was able to post the video i took here of 2 Tortoises mating, .........  so you get to see it now   :)   ...

i went back to Hotel Volcano, Stephanie wasn't there, but i used the WiFi to check my banking which i didn't do before i left  :(   ... but all was ok ...


the group met around 5:30pm ... and that was a great idea .....   it's was so much more fun being there with a group, than being there alone   :(     ...

we all had fun ....  many drinks were quickly consumed ...

if we hadn't 'bonded' yet as a group, we did that evening   :)   ...

my favorite bartender :) ...

the sun set ... a familiar scene for me ....

and although there was 'talk' about not returning to the boat for dinner, and just staying and continuing drinking ....

we eventually met Washington around 6:30 in the village ...

and after some silliness ....

we headed back to the dock, where the full moon was just rising ....

back to the boat for dinner ... and the drinking continued  ... it felt like 2am when Claire and i turned in for the night .... but it was only 10:30 !!!


this was the least 'exciting' day for me .... except for the Happy Hour ...