We navigated further south to Tagus Cove overnight in order for us to kick off day five with a early morning hike to experience the sunrise over the island of Isabela and marvel over the drastic change in terrain caused by the newer volcanic activity.
Tagus Cove
Our hike began with with a landing alongside the cliff wall of Isabela and we proceeded upward at a generous pace. Upon reaching the first plateau (see featured image), we were greeted by a stunning vista in the form a salt water lake, the result of a volcanic tuff cone collapsing and later fed by salt water from the surrounding ocean. These tuff cones were created during the formation of the island over a million years ago and is made up of solidified volcanic ash that collapsed as the underlying structure is eroded away. Not all of these cones on this part of the island have collapsed but this particular one, lends itself to a very picturesque landscape.
Our hike continued for another half mile or so all along a volcanic soil path, and ended at a perch overlooking newly formed vegetation alongside the barren volcanic landscape and in the very far distance, the still erupting Wolf volcano. Wolf is one of several active volcanos in the archipelago and initially erupted in January of this year and continued as we were on the island. Talking with Harry, he was nearby on the Samba during the initial eruption and took incredible footage of the lava flow hitting the cold ocean water in explosive fashion. Since this occurred nearly four months ago, the activity has settled down and all that’s really visible (for tourists) is a puff of smoke on the horizon.
Punta Espinoza
Once back on the boat, we were off to the island of Fernandina. Situated just west of Isabela, it was a short navigation so while it would only have taken us less than an hour to get there, our breakfast was interrupted as we came upon a pod of Tropic whales. Around five in total, we only caught a quick glimpse as they made their way between the two islands. These whales aren’t endemic to the archipelago but often travel through in search for warmer weather.
Once to Fernandina, we landed at Punta Espinoza where we on the lookout for marine iguanas, which was extraordinarily easy to find as when we landed, there were piles upon piles (piles? I can’t remember the correct term for lots of marine iguanas) of them basking in the mid morning sun. As we were hiking, we stumbled across a least a hundred of them all facing the same direction (into the sun) and it reminded me of some sort of cold blooded cult.
Did you know the iguana poop smells just like that of a cow’s? I do!
Marine iguanas are called marine because they’re one of the few species of iguana that reside on both land and sea. They’ll jump into the water to feed on their main diet of green algae and come back on land to nest and dry out; they’ll actually shoot out streams of water from the top of their nose to rid the water of their system. As we were walking along the shoreline, you could hear sporadic pfftts as they rid themselves of the ocean water.
The marine iguanas make their nests in the sand and really have no natural predators once they reach full size. Newly hatched iguanas, however are often the prey of circling birds and very often are snatched up by hawks if the adult iguanas aren’t protecting their young. As we were heading back to the Samba, we witnessed a Galapagos hawk do just that, snatched up a baby iguana, took it for a ride and devoured it. Reminding us all of the ecosystem we’re all part of.
Once back onboard, we dawned our wetsuits and snorkeled alongside of Fernandina and we were looking to observe the marine side of the marine iguanas. Seeing the large number of them on land, it wasn’t unexpected to see so many in the water feasting on green algae.
We got very lucky that we were able to see both the iguanas and sea turtles all in one place! 
Got a chance to do some snorkeling improv. This was from the audience suggestion of “marine iguana floating in water”. 
not bad, right?
Urbina Bay
After lunch, we navigated further south, back to Isabela, where we landed at Urbina Bay and we were back on the hiking trail, this time searching for giant tortoises and land iguanas. In our previous trip, we were able to get up close and personal with the giant tortoises but that was in a protected environment, so while exciting, it lacks a certain luster of seeing these gentle giants in the wild. You can read about the specifics of these tortoises in my other post, but in short, these are the largest tortoises in the world, can weigh up to 700lbs and live well over 100 years. Oddly enough, we ran into a similar specific of tortoise in the Seychelles last year (over 10,000 miles apart) but the species aren’t related. The Galapagos tortoises are on the verge of extinction, with two species actually extinct so there are a ton of conservation efforts in place to ensure the remaining species continue to grow and thrive on the island.
Land iguanas inhabit most of the islands of the Galapagos and are much larger than their marine iguana cousins. In fact, they’re one of the largest lizards in the world and can get up to five feet in length and weigh up to 40lbs. We only found two during our trek inland and both were fairly skittish, but one was a female in her nest, so I suppose that’s a reasonable reaction.
Charles Darwin himself described them as “ugly animals, of a yellowish orange beneath… from their low facial angle they have a singularly stupid appearance.”
The day ended as the previous days have but on this particular day we were fortunate for an additional experience in route further south. During navigation, we and two other boats came across a “bait ball” in the middle of the ocean with incredible bird and whale activity. These bait balls are created when whales stir up fish and push them closer to the surface of the water and flocks of local birds dive in to take advantage of an easy meal. Our expert Captain and all around great guy, José, navigated the Samba and put us right in the middle of the action.
A very special dinner followed, where we has a group celebrated Karyn’s birthday, kicked off by a very touching speech by her husband Steve (I tried to think of a joke here but couldn’t come up with one, sorry Steve!) and a birthday cake made just for the occasion. I’m still amazed that our chef can bake a cake for 12 people in the tiny galley, but it was delicious and a wonderful way to close out our fifth day.
Featured Image: An early morning view of the salt lake inside a collapsed tuff cone on Isabela.
to love and wander 
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