Apr 17 – Galapagos Day 3
The ship travelled overnight round Isabela Island (the
largest of the chain and shaped like a seahorse) to reach the next mooring
point at Urbina Bay in time for our 7am breakfast. Then it was out in the
panga’s for a wet landing into the bay.
From there we walked through the undergrowth avoiding as instructed the very poisonous trees that produce small fruit (similar to crab apples) which are deadly to human beings although the land iguanas love them ! Even brushing against the tree or standing under it when it rains has been known to cause severe allergic reactions.
From there we walked through the undergrowth avoiding as instructed the very poisonous trees that produce small fruit (similar to crab apples) which are deadly to human beings although the land iguanas love them ! Even brushing against the tree or standing under it when it rains has been known to cause severe allergic reactions.
Only a few minutes in and some rustling in the undergrowth
stopped us, the leaves parted and out bowled the biggest lizard you have ever
seen !
The Land Iguana. 4 ft long at least, shades of yellow
and ochre with a crusty spine.
They are just so impressive and as they move heavily across the ground you can just imagine what the dinosaurs would have looked like walking the earth.
They are just so impressive and as they move heavily across the ground you can just imagine what the dinosaurs would have looked like walking the earth.
Another turn on the path and next up was a Giant Tortoise.
These are the size of large wheelbarrows and thanks to a conservation programme are still to be found in good numbers here and in the highlands of Santa Cruz. These are their paths that we are following so they are frequently seen on and around the path.
These are the size of large wheelbarrows and thanks to a conservation programme are still to be found in good numbers here and in the highlands of Santa Cruz. These are their paths that we are following so they are frequently seen on and around the path.
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| Giant Tortoise path rush hour |
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| What are you doing in my way ? |
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| Yes you....... |
Next up were the Darwin finches. There are 13 varieties and it was these little chaps that helped Darwin develop the origin of the species by demonstrating natural selection and have benn observed evolving as recently as 1977 when drought moved their feed to larger harder seeds and their beak size grew by 10%! From the original finches they evolved over time into the 13 species seen today, mostly varying by colour and beak size. There is even a woodpecker finch (no woodpeckers in Galapagos so they evolved one !)
We had just finished finch type spotting when up popped a Mockingbird with a huge green caterpillar which it proceeded to demolish calmly in front of us as if we weren't there.
In the tree beside it was a Painted Locust. They have the most fabulous colours
Round the next corner on the way back to the beach were the pelicans, we were to see many of these over the next few days in very unusual circumstances ! This one was in its natural habitat.
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| Darwin Finch |
We had just finished finch type spotting when up popped a Mockingbird with a huge green caterpillar which it proceeded to demolish calmly in front of us as if we weren't there.
In the tree beside it was a Painted Locust. They have the most fabulous colours
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| Painted Locust |
Round the next corner on the way back to the beach were the pelicans, we were to see many of these over the next few days in very unusual circumstances ! This one was in its natural habitat.
Back to the boat for lunch and then Paul and Mandy went snorkelling
with the sea turtles (and a large shark…) then our weather luck ran out. The
heavens opened and the rainy season lived up to its name.
Our ship is accompanied by Frigate Birds (the ones with the red balloon necks from Day 1). These birds can't land in sea water so they trail boats and bird nesting sites and they have to steal their food as they can't hunt for it by sea diving. We had a Red Arrows squadron with us for over an hour
The afternoon walk
was shortened but only Paul decided to go and after that it was panga rides
into Tagus Cove by which time the rain has stopped so Mandy and Janette were
very happy.
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| Just to show its not all sunshine ! .......warm rain |
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| Frigate Birds formation flying |
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| Hitching a ride in the rain... |
From the panga we found a little family of Galapagos
Penguins. Very cute but very tiny compared to the ones we had seen in Antarctica.
We also spotted the flightless Cormorant,
some Blue Footed Booby’s and we were accompanied by a
curious sea lion !
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| Tiny Galapagos penguins |
We also spotted the flightless Cormorant,
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| Flightless Galapagos Cormorant |
Back to the boat for sundowners but no sunset or stars tonight
as the clouds had closed in, so longer dinner, lots of chat some good
wine…….lovely.
