Day 4: Santa Cruz to Isabela, Galapagos Islands

Porta Ayora, Santa Cruz

This has been the absolute best day ever!  We took a boat from Santa Cruz to Isabela Island, the home of 4 massive volcanoes.  The landscape is vastly different with black volcanic rock visible everywhere.  Along the way I even saw the backside of the crescent shaped island, Tortuga.

Tortuga Island

The first thing I saw as soon as we reached Puerto Villamil was the bright red Sally Lightfoot crabs.  They are everywhere!  The adults are a bright red and orange color and the juveniles are black.  This adaptation allows for the smaller and younger crabs to blend in with the volcanic rock to hide from predators.  The bright red color on the adults acts as a warning to predators not to touch.

Sunbathing sea lions and a Sally Lightfoot crab.

Marine iguanas sunbathing.

There were a bunch of sleepy sea lions laying around everywhere near the docks and even on a few of the boats.  Further in as we were walking towards our bus we saw the marine iguanas sunning on the sidewalks.

The Galápagos Islands are all about being eco-friendly and recycling, so many of the vehicles and buildings on the islands are older and made of recycled materials.  The climate on the islands stays pretty constant as well, so our bus had no need for air conditioning or heat.  There were no windows (or doors for that matter) so we really got to enjoy the fresh air.

On the bus to head to the hotel.

Hotel Cally

The bus took us to our hotel, Hotel Cally.  The hotel has an amazing view of the ocean from the open roof along with a bunch of hammocks to relax in.  We lucked out with our room being on the third floor and having two balconies.  One of those balconies came in handy later that night when I was trying to get WiFi.  I ended up having to lean over the side to pick up the signal in the lobby.  Connection isn't the best in Galápagos, but I didn't really expect it to be.  Another perk is that the beach is just a short walk away from the hotel, so that was exactly where we headed before we went hiking!

Inside our room facing the front balcony.

Relaxing on the roof.

The view from the top of Hotel Cally!

There were marine iguanas everywhere on the rocks.  They blended in so well even I had a hard time spotting them.  The formations of some of the volcanic rock was beautiful where you could see where it was flowing when it cooled.  As the ocean waves crash into it, channels and openings are carved out and some of the detail is smoothed away.

Very young marine iguanas sunbathing on the rocks.

The tide washing up over volcanic rock.

Playa del Amor

The trail to Playa del Amor.

We took a little ride over to the nature reserve wetland complex for a bit of hiking.  This area has wetlands, desert, and tropical plants all within walking distance along multiple different trails.  The one that we took was the trail to Playa del Amor which is a beach area.  The sand was not as fine as the one near the hotel, it was much more rocky and full of shells.  Although volcanic rock is common almost everywhere, it is particularly heavy in this area.  A lot of the rock had a reddish color to it indicating the presence of iron. 

The beach and some mangroves at Playa del Amor.

A marine iguana posing majestically for me.

There were marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs everywhere.  We were even lucky enough to have two blue-footed fly overhead!  They were flying so quick I almost didn't see them.

There was one huge marine iguana on the back side of the beach.  They are a whole lot easier to photograph than those birds!

Blue-footed boobies.

Sally Lightfoot crabs.

Into the mouth of the tunnel we all go.

A short hike away from the beach was a lava tunnel we could walk down into.  There are a few lava tunnels throughout the island, but we went into the Tunel del Estero since it was closest to the main pathway.  The tunnels were formed when the outer part of the magma flows hardened into rock while the inner magma continued to flow out to the ocean.  Magma no longer flows in this area, so the tunnel instead is filled with water from the ocean.

Inside the lava tunnel.

The roof of the lava tunnel.

Finishing off the trail was the wetlands where there was a nice lookout area to observe the flora and fauna.  One unique species covering the area was the candelabra cactus.  This cactus is drought resistant and can go long periods of time without any water.  They grow very slow, only a few millimeters a year, and take centuries before they reach a large size.  Some of the ones we saw were massive, so I can't even imagine how old they must be!

One of the inner wetland areas.

We stopped at one more wetland estuary on our way to the next destination and saw some gorgeous flamingos.  Flamingos mate for life, so where you find one, the other is sure to be close-by.  This lake had 4 hanging out - 3 in one area and 1 not far off. 

Flamingo Lake

Galápagos Tortoise Breeding Center

Baby tortoises are so tiny!

After the tunnels we went to the Arnaldo Tupiza Breeding Center which works to increase the populations of the remaining tortoises across Isabela Island.  The landscape in each area is designed to mimic the landscape from the volcano each species came from.  The center feeds them 3 times per week in a similar fashion to how they would have to find food in the wild - by using their keen sense of smell!  This encourages them to depend more on their instincts to find food even while in captivity.

The younger tortoises are separated by age groups inside protected areas.  Screens cover each area to prevent birds and other predators from harming them.  Their shells are hard enough by 6 years old to be placed in an outside environment with more space.  It takes around 50 to 60 years before the reach full size.

Protected areas for young tortoises.

Tortoises in their encampments that mimic their natural environments.

All around the breeding center were massive trees with fruit that looked like small apples.  But beware, don't eat the apples!  These trees are manchineel trees which are native to Galapagos.  Only giant tortoises can digest the tiny apples that grow on them since they are poisonous to humans.

Manchineel trees.

Scarlett and Shelly.

Not only do they breed tortoises at the center, they also rehabilitate injured tortoises for re-release as well as house those that can not be released back into the wild.  We met one of their permanent residents, a female who only had three legs.  Scarlett immediately fell in love and dubbed her "Shelly" the tortoise.  They definitely had some kind of bond going on because Scarlett talked to her for the longest time and Shelly would raise her head up and watch her.

Scarlett was pretty devastated when it was time to say good-bye.

The moment the first met, love at first sight!

Shelly the tortoise.

At the end of the day we had a chance to swing back by the beach, and I am so glad I did!  The tide was out and the rock formations had created a pool-like area.  Waves would roll in and poor water (along with fish) into the pocket.  A very clever sea lion was taking advantage of the trapped fish and was swimming around having a feast!  After its little belly was full, it hopped up on top of the rocks to groom and take a nap.  It was such an awesome thing to witness!

Swimming around catching small fish.

Getting ready for a nap.

Tomorrow will be a full day here on Isabela Island!