Today we visited the largest island of the Galapagos archipelago, making up 58 percent of the total land mass—Isabela Island. In the morning we visited Urbina Bay, where we walked on upwelled terrain that occurred in 1954 due to volcanic activity. In this new area, we spotted our first group of Galapagos giant tortoises from Alcedo Volcano, standing by the trail. We also encountered lots of male yellow land iguanas. After a warm walk, we had the chance to cool down, swimming with penguins and sea turtles. For the rest of the day, we had multiple activities at Tagus Cove such as kayaking, paddle-boarding, snorkeling and Zodiac cruising. There was so much wildlife to be seen, and we spotted sea lions, pelicans, penguins and flightless cormorants. Another wonderful day in paradise onboard National Geographic Endeavour II.
10/4/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Genovesa Island
With coffee in hand, I stepped out onto the front balcony of the lounge to see what was going on. We had just entered Darwin’s Bay, dropped anchor, and the juvenile red-footed boobies had found the ship and were flying around us on an inspection tour. The rest of the day continued with discoveries of all kinds. An early morning inversion layer (locally known as “garúa”) had fallen and dampened the environment with much desired drops of fresh water, although the chicks of various species didn’t appear terribly pleased in having wet feathers. On our return, the same bedraggled individuals looked smooth, sleek and dry once the sun had come out. The Galapagos National Park has only two sites for visitors, both spectacular, both well worth a slow walk among the palo santo trees to see the great frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galapagos doves, Darwin’s finches, short-eared owls, and storm petrels. Snorkeling, kayaking, and paddleboarding along the base of the cliffs of Darwin’s Bay followed. There’s nothing quite like this island anywhere in the world.