Isabela – Galapagos Islands

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Hello again!  In case you’ve missed the previous posts in my blog series about our adventures in the Galapagos Islands, check them out here: Santa Cruz, & Floreana.  Today we’ll be taking a look at our time in Isabela, which is another beautiful island.

One of my favorite parts of our trip to Isabela was a boat tour of the bay.  It was great being able to casually see the island from another perspective – the water – while taking the time to observe the wildlife more in depth.  We had been traveling via boat between islands before this, but it isn’t the same.  Aside from the wide range of animals we saw from the boat, I also enjoyed checking out the brightly colored boats anchored in the bay.  I was glad to have a freshly charged camera battery before this excursion!

During the boat tour, there was no shortage of excitement.  A penguin or sea lion would be swimming off to one side of the boat, and then there’d be some wildlife lounging carefree inside a vacant boat on the other side of us:

In addition to the famous Galapagos tortoises, the blue-footed booby was another well known animal we hoped to see.  Fortunately we saw several blue-footed boobies while on the tour of the bay!  Although their spectacular feet are mostly hidden take a look at the bird on the right side of the photo below to see its blue feet on the rocks.  You can also see a couple penguins (one is front and center) hanging out on this rock as well.

I loved watching the stunningly bright red Sally Light-footed crabs as they crawled along the rocks.  They looked gorgeous against the bright blue water.

We also did a walking tour while in Isabela.  I couldn’t believe how many marine iguanas were along the shores!  These creatures are so fascinating and unique.  Most of them were in larger groups, but here is one of my favorite photos of a marine iguana that we took:

Another part of our tour in Isabela included a visit to the “Wall of Tears” or “El Muro de las Lágrimas”.  This is now recognized as a historical site on the island.  There was a penal colony back in the 1940s-1950s, and its prisoners were forced to build this wall.  The wall itself stands roughly 25 meters tall, and I remember our guide saying that while the wall was being built, prison guards would sometimes walk past it at night and knock over that days progress.  Visiting the wall was a very emotionally heavy experience but it is a part of the islands history, which I was glad was included in our tour

I loved our time in Isabela, but as usual it went by quick!  After this, we headed back to Santa Cruz for our final excursions before heading home.  Come back next Monday for another post about the Galapagos Islands.

Our Galapagos Island trip was booked through Friendly Planet, and while in Isabela we stayed at the Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge.