First thing this morning after a very rushed breakfast, we were taken to the public wharf to take a speedboat to Isla Isabela. The journey took 2h and it was quite rough (although not as bad as I had expected). Isla Isabela is the biggest island in the archipelago and has several volcanos towering 1800m (one of them just recently erupted). Since it is quite far off from the main groups, not too many organized cruise tours would visit there. We pick this island because of the variety of wild life, scenery, and activities it offers.
Just as we berthed at the dock, we could already sense how wild the island is. Sea lions were swimming all over us and several were sunbathing at the dock. We saw Galapagos penguine swimming right off our boat as well. Gigantic marine iguanas were all over the walkway. We were met by our guide Ricardo and taken to our hotel to rest and get ready for our snorkeling tour. To get to our snorkeling site, Cabo Rosa, we had to take another bumpy speedboat ride for about 40 mins. It is our first time to try out our brand new prescription snorkeling masks and they worked great! We were able to see many many sea turtles, both big and small! Some came so close that we could actually touch them if we had wanted. The guide pointed out creatures such as octopus (very tiny and hard to see) and sea horses. He then led us to a ledge where we hovered and watched in amazement several full size reef sharks swimming below us! It is quite a scary moment actually not knowing if they will attack (at that time, all our scientific knowledge about sharks not attacking human deliberately...etc. went out the windows!!) We also saw a manta ray and puffer fish, not to mention the thousands of colorful tropical fish. It is funny that all others in our boat including the guide had to put on a wet suit to snorkel. Yi and I were the only one wearing just a long sleeve shirt (it was for sun protection, not warmth). The guidebook had warned readers that wet suit is recommended due to the cold water temperature in Jul/Aug. We, however, did not find the water too cold. It must be due to the training we have swimming in Sproat Lake our home!
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| Waiting to board speed boat to Isla Isabela |
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| Water taxi took us to speed boat |
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| Speed boat to Isla Isabela |
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| Sea lions lying on steps at Isabela pier |
After a box lunch on the boat after the snorkeling, the captain took us to a close-by place called Los Tuneles which means literally tunnels. It consists of many lava tubes which had collapsed and now submerged forming amazing landscape. There are many fish, sea turtles, and small rays swimming in the interconnected channels. Due to the dry weather here in Galapagos, many species of cacti have taken root and grown to enormous height. On most of the rocks, there were different species of birds nesting. We found a blue-footed booby hatching an egg! On another rock, we saw a 4 month old chick still bugging his mother for food even though he is bigger than his mom! We could have spent hours more at this place if the guide would let us.
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| An islet in the middle of the ocean |
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| A Galapagos penguine |
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| Los Tuneles |
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| Blue-footed booby hatching egg |
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| Sea turtle swimming at Los Tuneles |
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| See the giant baby blue-footed booby next to its mom? |
On the way back, we saw a huge manta ray jumped out of water doing several flips in the horizon. The guide even tried his fishing luck. He hooked two barracudas and I reeled them in. Their sharp teeth made releasing them back quite risky. I was surprised they didn't keep the second one even though it is a good size. Maybe their taste is not that great??
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| Barracuda! |
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| Isabela Island |
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| Puerto Villamil harbour |
Before dinner, we walked around the town to explore. Peurto Villamil is a small town and the only town on Isla Isabela but it has several beautiful beaches at its waterfront. It is a big contrast to Peurto Ayora (population of several thousands vs 20,000). Our dinner was eaten at the hotel but the food was nothing to write home about. My fish is so dry and overcooked it could bounce! However, they did try their best as our dinner came with soup, main entree, and even a small dessert.
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