Isabela Island, Volcan Sierra Negra, 3/19/2025, National Geographic Delfina
Aboard the
National Geographic Delfina
Galápagos
A day filled with wonder and some hard work! An early morning outing gave us blacktip reef sharks, penguins, and after a short walk, some yearling marine iguanas waking up and warming up. After breakfast, we took a bus into the highlands. We climbed the flanks of a volcano, the widest of Isabela’s five volcanos. Vegetation changed from arid coastline to verdant green. It doesn’t always look like this, and the wet season has indeed been very wet, providing us with this beautiful result.
We enjoyed a long hike, with some mud yet no slips, lots of photos, and many awe-inspired exclamations at the vast caldera of Sierra Negra.
Cindy was raised in a family that was fortunate enough to live in many different countries across the globe. During her formative years, she counted Latin America and Europe as home, with periods in-between living in Illinois and Indiana, where she a...
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As the warm/rainy season still reigns in the archipelago, we started our day with an early morning hike to beat the equatorial sun. We first explored a young lava flow on Santiago Island that faces Sulivan Bay and were amazed by the contrasting colors of iron-oxide lava. We returned to our cozy ship for a delicious breakfast and finished the morning with a relaxing beach visit. After a well-deserved rest and an amazing lunch, we went for a snorkeling excursion along the coastline of the iconic Bartolomé Island. We finished our day by going up 368 steps to a viewpoint with a strategic spot to observe some of the islands that make up the Galapagos Archipelago.
We spent the day on the beautiful Genovesa Island. This place is outstanding, especially for those who love seabirds. Red-footed boobies and Nazca boobies were abundant along the trails. We observed plenty of juvenile frigatebirds and even a few males displaying a fully inflated red pouch. This island is special, and definitely a great place to start our adventure exploring the Galapagos Islands.
Our day on Santa Cruz Island began with a visit to one of the most iconic and important conservation sites in the Galápagos, the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. Nestled just outside Puerto Ayora, this facility plays a crucial role in the ongoing effort to preserve the future of the Galápagos giant tortoise. We were able to observe tortoises at various stages of development, from hatchlings no larger than a coconut to massive adults with shells that bore the weight of centuries. Our guides explained the breeding program’s history and the meticulous care involved in raising these gentle giants until they are strong enough to be released back into their native habitat. In the afternoon, we journeyed into the highlands of Santa Cruz where the landscape shifted dramatically. Moist, green, and mist-laced, the highlands offered a stark contrast to the arid lowlands. It is here, in this lush environment, that we encountered giant tortoises roaming freely in their natural habitat. The experience of seeing these prehistoric creatures ambling through the grass, grazing calmly and occasionally soaking in muddy pools, was nothing short of awe-inspiring. We had time to walk among them, observe their slow but purposeful movements, and appreciate the grandeur of these ancient animals in the wild.
