Isla Isabela
My adventure on Isla Isabela, in the Galápagos Islands, took me swimming with huge Whitetip Sharks, on a quest searching for little Galapagos Penguins, to a lagoon to see Flamingos, and on a hike to find a Giant Tortoise in the wild!
GETTING THERE
Isabela Island is in the Galapagos Archipelago, but it’s only accessible by water, or small plane. Most people arrive on cruise ships or ferries or by taking a day tour by boat. To get there, I took a two hour ferry ride from Santa Cruz Island.
AMAZING EXCURSIONS
Isabela Island is the largest in the Galapagos chain, but it’s less developed than the other habited islands. The port was a short taxi ride from the main town of Puerto Villamil. Isabela was different than the other islands because it had a very long white sand beach bordering the town. There was a path along the shore, with only a few seaside restaurants, small inns, and stunning viewpoints overlooking the turquoise blue water. Many companies offered tours around Isabela and to nearby islands to snorkel or dive.
On the edge of town was Laguna Salinas, a feeding spot for the island’s Galapagos Flamingos. The brackish water was filled with brine shrimp, their favorite food, which turned their feathers colorful shades of pink. A small wooden walkway went across the water on one side of the lagoon. I watched the flamingos eating just before sunset. They would use their long necks to dip their entire heads into the water and walk around with their tall legs, trying to scoop up shrimp with their big beaks. Later during a sunrise visit, I heard them talking to each other! One started the conversation by making a sort of light quacking sound and fluffing up its feathers. The rest of the flamingos followed in unison, all making the same sound and feather fluff.
I jumped on a boat trip to Las Tintoreras Islet, named after the sharks which call it home. I also hoped to find the small little Galapagos Penguin, the only penguin that lives in the Northern Hemisphere, because they didn’t live on the other islands. I started snorkeling and was quickly surrounded by schools of hundreds of blue, grey, and yellow Surgeonfish, each about two feet long! I also saw some of the largest Parrotfish I’d ever seen, about three feet long, some Galapagos Sea Turtles, many Spotted Eagle Rays, and I swam with two Whitetip Reef Sharks that were about seven footers! They were incredible to see but also shocking to be so close.
Back on the boat, the crew started looking for penguins, going in and out of coves and around many islets. All of a sudden I heard a faint noise, like a short soft donkey honk. It was a lost little penguin swimming around frantically searching for its buddy. The second little penguin floating in the water made the same sound and that’s how they found each! I was overjoyed to see their reunion and I watched as they happily swam off together.
Isabela Island was one of the few places to see Galapagos Giant Tortoises truly in the wild, not on a reserve. They are extremely large, hundreds of pounds, and they can live well over 100 years. I hiked to a place called Camino De Tortugas where they were known to live. But finding one of them among the landscape was super difficult because they blended in so well with the marshland, downed trees, and dark lava rock. Birds were flying, grasshoppers were jumping, and dragonflies were fluttering, but trying to find a wild tortoise sitting still was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I hiked for miles through mangrove and tall cactus, and I was ready to give up because the quest seemed impossible. I vowed to hike around just one more corner, then turn around. About 15 feet after I passed the bend, on the left side under a low tree canopy was a giant tortoise! It weighed about 500 pounds, had a perfect looking large shell, rough weathered skin, and huge toenails! It heard me breathing, poked up its long neck, and looked me straight in the eye. After eyeing me a minute or so, the tortoise rested its neck and fell asleep.
My journey to Isla Isabela took me to one of the most remote places I’ve ever been, on the farthest edge of the Galapagos Islands. But with that isolation came the unique opportunity to see penguins, sharks, rays, and sea turtles in their natural habitat, and a giant tortoise living free in the wild.
