Our day began early as we boarded the Zodiacs for a water-based exploration of Elizabeth Bay, one of the most pristine and biologically rich areas in the Galápagos. We silently glided through a maze of red and black mangroves where the clear turquoise waters allowed us to observe an abundance of marine life beneath us. We saw green sea turtles, juvenile blacktip reef sharks feeding on small fish, Galápagos penguins, and flightless cormorants drying their wings on the rocks. As the morning came to an end, National Geographic Gemini repositioned along the coast of Isabela Island.
In the afternoon, we arrived at Punta Moreno for a snorkeling session followed by a guided hike. Our landing on jagged black lava brought us into an otherworldly landscape, an expansive lava field shaped by past eruptions of the Sierra Negra Volcano. The trail provided an excellent opportunity to observe lava cacti and learn about the process of ecological succession on young volcanic terrain, where life gradually takes hold in one of the most dramatic environments in the archipelago.
