Southern Isabela, Isabela Island
If anybody asked me to picture the “dream day” for me, it would have to be just like the one we had today or at least pretty close!
We disembarked at the small town of Pto Villamil. This town is populated mainly by a fishing community that is developing little by little enough facilities for expeditions like ours to explore its surroundings. The attractions here are endless, and we covered a pretty good part of them. We decided to spend the whole day at this island, starting early with a hike to the summit of a volcano that erupted only a few months ago, Sierra Negra. Almost everyone took the chance to do it, because the landscape at the summit is worth every step of the way. Sierra Negra is one of the top ten largest calderas in the world and adding the fact that some of the fumaroles can be seeing at the distance made this option very appealing among our guests.
After the hike, everyone returned on board for lunch, but the options did not stop then. Most of the guests paid a visit to the giant tortoises breeding center of Isabela Island. This is the place were the efforts to preserve the giant tortoises, mostly the ones coming from this island, take place. This town is growing with such a strong environmental consciousness among the inhabitants, that it is really a pleasure to see how even the most of the kids, as early as four years olds, attend environmental education centers to develop the understanding of the ecosystem where they live.
Most of the late afternoon was spent very leisurely at the few gift shops of the area, and for some of us, a beer, sunset and beach volleyball did not sound like a bad idea at all!
If anybody asked me to picture the “dream day” for me, it would have to be just like the one we had today or at least pretty close!
We disembarked at the small town of Pto Villamil. This town is populated mainly by a fishing community that is developing little by little enough facilities for expeditions like ours to explore its surroundings. The attractions here are endless, and we covered a pretty good part of them. We decided to spend the whole day at this island, starting early with a hike to the summit of a volcano that erupted only a few months ago, Sierra Negra. Almost everyone took the chance to do it, because the landscape at the summit is worth every step of the way. Sierra Negra is one of the top ten largest calderas in the world and adding the fact that some of the fumaroles can be seeing at the distance made this option very appealing among our guests.
After the hike, everyone returned on board for lunch, but the options did not stop then. Most of the guests paid a visit to the giant tortoises breeding center of Isabela Island. This is the place were the efforts to preserve the giant tortoises, mostly the ones coming from this island, take place. This town is growing with such a strong environmental consciousness among the inhabitants, that it is really a pleasure to see how even the most of the kids, as early as four years olds, attend environmental education centers to develop the understanding of the ecosystem where they live.
Most of the late afternoon was spent very leisurely at the few gift shops of the area, and for some of us, a beer, sunset and beach volleyball did not sound like a bad idea at all!
