Isabela Island - the largest in the archipelago - Puerto Villamil, Ecuador
Puerto Villamil, Ecuador
The boat ride to Isabela Island was a bit calmer today, although for some reason, no less nauseating. I spend the whole 2 hours doing my best to stop an unfortunate eruption, so I was pleased when we stopped briefly halfway through to observe birds nesting and fishing on the cliffs of Fernandina Island. It was only another half an hour before we arrived in the port of Puerto Villamil, and yet again, we were greeted by waiting wildlife, most equally as lazy as the last island's inhabitants. Sea lions lounging on the beach and atop the benches overlooking the bay, accompanied yet again by a string of marine iguanas. However, this time we did see one of the iguanas swimming in the shallow water, hunting for its breakfast meal. It's very strange to see these usually terrestrial reptiles paddling away in the sea, after all they are the only kind of their species to do so. Before moving onto our next destination, there was just enough time to buy a big, green coconut to drink, as well as a large dough ball, filled with corn and pork, just as light snack you understand. Although as soon as we started travelling in the rural bus, it felt like a bit of a mistake, as the wooden seats rattled us this way and that with every bump and divert in the road, which were numerous. After stopping to see a group of flamingoes feeding in a man-made lake, it was on to our campsite for the next 2 nights, up in the highlands of the island. Our tent was spacious, allowing us enough room to stand up, roll around and generally relax comfortably. With lunch hungrily devoured, it was time to depart for an afternoon's hike to the top of the Senna Negro volcano. Lucky, the bus took us up most of the way, so it was only a 25 minute walk up the last hundred or so vertical metres. And what a sight greeted us when we reached the top - A crater spanning 10 kilometres by 9 kilometres, deep enough to not allow passageway down. On the floor of the crater was a complete covering of black, solid lava, as the last eruption, back in 2008, was only strong enough to fill the surface of the volcano with hot lava, rather than spewing it out down the slopes. Over to the left, we also got an impressive show of clouds cascading over the top of the volcano, down to the crater beneath, as though a massive science experiment was commencing involving a large vat of liquid nitrogen. It was the perfect spot to sit and reflect on just how powerful and beautiful nature can be. After returning to the camp for a quick siesta, we headed down into the town for a spot of dinner, although there was enough time to enjoy the happy hour at one of the many beach bars adorning the sea front in the town. It did seem strange to me that here in the Galápagos Islands, a sanctuary of nature and the epitome of the modern struggle to preserve rare and endangered species from extinction, was a town reminiscent of any European beach resort, with bars, hotels, restaurants and tour operators lining the street. Still, I can't say no to a happy hour beer so we stayed for an hour or so, before the restaurant awaited. The dinner itself was very interesting, consisting of a strange but appetising meal of calamari in meat sauce, complimented with a couple of rum and cokes. It might sound peculiar, but then again, the empty plate at the end spoke for itself. The rest of the night was spent back at the campsite, emptying a couple of bottles of rum, which made for a great time, but as you can imagine, a slightly groggy and slow morning! The morning activity which B and I chose was slightly different from the rest of the group, as instead of a hike across the impressive lava fields, we opted for a kayak trip around the bay, with a couple of stops for snorkelling. We were only about 2 minutes in when we were joined by a couple of very curious sea lions, frolicking around our kayaks, giving us quite the show. A few minutes later we were treated to the graceful display of a flying stingray, delicately flapping its wings through the water, at one point going right underneath B's boat, almost capsizing her - If only it had succeeded! Amongst the numerous marine wildlife we saw on the remainder of our trip included more marine iguanas, sunning themselves on the rocks, a Galápagos penguin swimming merrily in the bay, a host of brightly coloured crabs, as well as sea snakes, shimmering fish and delicate coral. The highlight of the trip has to be the reef shark we encountered whilst snorkelling for the second time. It must have been at least a metre long, zigzagging menacingly amongst the jagged rocks - Quite the sight for a novice snorkeler. With that, it was back to shore to enjoy yet another coconut, after struggling out of my rather tight wetsuit. The afternoon was very chilled, starting with a pizza for lunch, before a leisurely stroll in the town, heading for the beach. The rest of the time was spent soaking up the rays, whilst watching a determined sandpiper scamper up and down, trying to catch some lunch whilst avoiding the lapping waves on the shoreline. The late afternoon was spent at the island's giant tortoise breeding centre, where they are slowing helping to increase the population of the island's species through careful incubation of the eggs, as well as providing a safe nursery for the juvenile tortoises. These programmes are vitally important for these great creatures, as introduced pest, such as pigs, rats and cattle, means that there is up to a 95% mortality rate in baby tortoises in the wild. We were also lucky to see a very young baby, only 3 months old and smaller than a human's palm. It's hard to imagine that in about a hundred years, this little critter would weigh more than 250kg and be the size of a large family dog. The evening ended with a couple more beers, before a BBQ back at the campsite, accompanied by an open campfire and a speaker full of good music (I was the DJ for the evening after all!). In the morning, back to the speedboat to our final island, Santa Cruz.