Galapagos - Isabela Island

After Isla Santa Cruz I jumped on a public ferry and headed to Isla Isabela for a few days. Puerto Villamil, the main town on Isla Isabela is much quieter than Puerto Ayora, but it made up for that by having a 5km stretch of pristine beach right on its doorstep. I would frequently stroll alongside the almost deserted beach, looking out for sea birds, crabs, and the occasional ray hiding in the sand.

The nature on Isla Isabela was my favourite, almost every day i would go out walking or cycling along the Camino de Tortugas Gigantes, or the Walk of the Giant Tortoises. I came across many giant tortoises, sometimes they were hiding in the bush but sometimes they were just confidently strolling down the road! The camino also led to beautiful cliff tops and small beaches with huge marine iguanas sunning themselves. There was also an estuary that you could get to by wading through a mangrove forrest. If you got the timing right you could be in the estuary while the marine birds are feeding, i was in the water while blue footed boobies and pelicans were dive bombing the water in unison all around me. While this was going on sea lions and penguins were also swimming right past, presumably also on the hunt for food. I felt a bit like I was in a disney movie! There was also incredible snorkeling right outside of town, with turtles a metre long, huge rays, and yet more sea lions!

When i wasn't exploring the island independently, i was on boat trips to see other areas. One iconic place to visit on Isla Isabela is Los Tuneles, a unique volcanic formation that shelters a lot of marine life including turtles, reef sharks, rays, and sea horses. There were even some penguins zipping about. I went on a few more snorkelling trips where i saw more of the same animals, but i never got bored of it!

Taking a break from the ocean, i headed inland to some old sulphur mines in one of the crater of Volcan Sierra Negra. We headed up to the crater rim, driving through thick cloud and past trees covered in moss, before reaching the crater rim where luckily the clouds had cleared. We hiked down into the crater and up to some steaming vents where there was a thick odour of sulphur. The bright yellow of the sulphur was all around, and we could only spend around 30 minutes at the mines before we had to leave due to the sulphur smoke. It may have knocked a few years off my life but it was worth it for the views!Læs mere