Cruise Day Four: Isla Isabela

Tuesday 5th November 2013

Moreno Point

Young blue footed boobies

Lava field

Young blue footed boobies

Blue footed boobie being fed

Young blue footed boobies

Blue footed boobies

Baby blue-footed boobie

Young blue footed boobie

Young blue footed boobie

Lava cactus

Lava formations

Cerro Azul

Flamingo

Flowers in the lava rock

Lava rock gone green

This morning was the hardest walk so far, especially for my swankle. Moreno point is a massive lava field created by the volcano Cerro Azul over ten thousand years ago. It consists of uneven rocks and huge cavernous areas where the bottom of the structure has collapsed from the weight of the lava above, making it difficult terrain to navigate. Inland it looks brown and lifeless other than the few and far between lava cactus, which in itself is a sight to see. But near water, either on the coastline or in pools (where the sea had found its way through cracks and crevices), we did find life. Crabs feeding off algae, blue-footed boobies nesting, a flamingo and some interesting plant life.

The Galápagos Islands are the result of a volcanic hotspot. They are part of a large raised platform on the Nazca plate and at the confluence of three oceanic currents which both give and take life away. The islands are on a huge conveyor belt moving east/southeast by approximately 2.5 inches every year (incredibly fast by geological standards), emerging from the sea in the west and submerging in the east. The youngest and most volcanically active island (Isla Fernandina, less than a million years old) is in the west while the oldest (Isla Espanola, around 3.5 million years old) is in the southeast. The most fertile islands are in the middle (Isabela, Santiago, Santa Cruz).

Urbina bay

View to the sea

Black beach

Brown pelican

Land iguana

Giant tortoise

Giant tortoise

Galapagos mockingbird

Giant tortoise

Flowers

Flowers

In the afternoon we visited Urbina Bay where we were able to see giant tortoises and land iguanas in the wild. The beaches here are black. Galapagos has a beautiful and bizarre array of different coloured beaches, white (Isla Santa Cruz, Tortuga Bay), yellow-orange (Isla Bartolome), black (here!), red (Isla Rabida) and green (Isla Floreana, Punta Comorant). The black beaches are the youngest, composed of basalt. The beach in Tortuga Bay consists mostly of quartz (silicone dioxide), while the red beaches of Rabida consist of oxidised iron (rust). The green beaches on Floreana consist of large amounts of mineral olivine which has been naturally filtered out of the basalt by the sea.

Sunset

We watched the sunset from the boat.

Cruise Day Two: Isla Santa Cruz

Sunday 3rd November 2013

Ballena Bay (Whale Bay)

Marine iguanas

Great blue heron

Nazca boobies

Great blue heron

Great blue heron

Great blue heron

Blue footed boobie

Brown pelican

Blue footed boobies

Sea lions

After a hearty breakfast at we jumped in the pangas to see what we could find on the coastline around the bay. On the way we saw a sting ray (no pic unfortunately). After seeing shop after shop with t-shirts exclaiming ‘I love boobies!’ above a pair of blue webbed feet we finally caught a glimpse of a few blue-footed boobies.

Later on in the morning we went snorkelling in the bay and saw sea turtles along with a whole host of weird and wonderfully coloured fish.

Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill)

View from the beach

Lagoon behind the beach

Land iguana

Land iguana

Land iguana

Ismael

Cactus trees

Flowering cactus

View of our cruise boat from the island

Flamingo

Flamingos

Flamingos

Flamingo

Marine iguana

The boat worked it’s way west along the coast to Dragon Hill (named after it’s most prolific resident, the land iguana). After lunch we jumped in the pangas to head to the island for a walk. Here there is no pier, the pangas dropped us on some lava rocks which sit alongside the white beach. Inland the earth was a deep rusty red colour which comes from the oxidised iron in the lava. Here I learned that the trees which looked lifeless on the way to Tortuga Bay were in fact not dead. They are deciduous trees called Palo Santo and appear silver-grey in the dry season and flourish with green leaves in the wet season. They produce a deep red-purple sap which makes them look almost like they are  bleeding and is used to make dye. I could only imagine how different the landscape would look in the wet season. On the way we came a across a lagoon with flamingos.

Galapagos is officially desert as it rains less than 200mm per annum here. There is only one island where fresh water can be reliably found year round, Floreana. Life on the islands has evolved to deal with the harsh environment. Giant tortoises can go for as long as 18 months without food or water, they hydrate themselves by eating the cactus which store water; marine iguanas drink sea water and ‘spit’ the salt from their nostrils.