After a short navigation, we arrived at Urbina Bay located on the western side of Isabela Island. In the morning we went ashore to explore this site, and had a great chance to look for Galapagos land iguanas, Galapagos giant tortoises and finches of different species.
At this site, land iguanas looked very colorful as is the mating season. We saw many males, and a few females near their burrows and some iguanas were sunbathing right in the middle of the trail. Galapagos land iguanas usually feed on vegetation, and as the rains are just starting, several bushes had fruits and bright yellow flowers—just what iguanas like to eat.
One of the highlights today were Galapagos giant tortoises—several were spotted looking for food, while others were resting under some bushes. Our walk took us to the coast, where we saw brown pelicans, sea turtles, Galapagos marine iguanas, and the remains of white coral that was uplifted in the earlies 1950s.
We ended our morning with a refreshing swim from the beach. Some of our guests spotted a very small juvenile shark swimming in the same area. Later on, we returned aboard to reposition to Tagus Cove.
In the afternoon, there were different options for our guests. This cove had perfect conditions, and was very calm, so some of our guests went snorkeling, kayaking and paddle boarding. This place was a great place to find Galapagos penguins, Galapagos flightless cormorants and sea lions.
We got on a late Zodiac ride along the cliffs of Tagus Cove, there we looked for blue-footed boobies, penguins, herons and many green sea turtles. We returned aboard right at sunset time.
