Galápagos Islands Isabella

We sailed to the Galapagos island Isabella on the 7th February 2024 and thanks to a 2kt current arrived at in Port Villamil 2pm in the afternoon.

Our agent came aboard with a army representative and we conducted the necessary paperwork including a safety inspection where they asked us if our life jackets, flares, liferaft and fire extinguishers were in date. There were only two other cruising yachts in the anchorage and we enjoyed an afternoon snorkle off the boat. We saw penguins, rays, green turtles and a Galapagos shark. I was impressed when the kids saw the 2+ meter shark and did not get scared, rather they took off after it to get a closer look. It sure does help growing up not watching Jaws movies and understanding sharks are just another animal to be understood and not feared.

The next morning Emilie went ashore for a run and on her return had organised a tour of one of the nearby. The tour took us into a rocky Tintoreras island which is a breeding ground for marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, penguins and sea lions. We were not disappointed and saw all the animals as close as we could without disturbing them. We also saw sleeping Galapagos sharks resting in the volcanic gullies.

The next morning we left the anchorage and mounted horses to ride up Sierra Negra volcano with our amazing and whacky guide Cilvia.

Sierra Negra last erupted in 2018 and Cilvia explained the different types of lava and ash, as well as explaining the indemic and introduced flora and fauna.

The next morning I explored to the end of the large beach, and in the afternoon took max for a snorkle around the rocks. Within twenty minutes we had swum with penguins, sea lions, turtles, iguanas, rays, and seen blue footed boobies up close on the rocks. Just incredible and possibly one of the best snorkels of my life!

That we were lucky enough to tie our stay in with the local carnival and we went ashore to partake in the festivities. After embarrassing the kids with my dancing we sat down for some street food. Two plates of chicken, rice and beans, and two Bollerons de pescado full of flavor with a total bill of $14. We then embarrassed Issy and max with more dancing, but the music was very loud bad techno so we returned to the boat (am I getting old or was the techno really really bad?)

The next morning everybody was a bit tired from the past few days of touring and a late night so we took it easy and did some snorkeling around Conch e Perla rocks. We found a large pool that became enclosed with the outgoing tide and swam with turtles, iguanas, rays and many tropical fish followed by another local $14 lunch. That afternoon while the family relaxed I went for another snorkle amongst the rocks and got close and a bit too personal with a large bull sea lion.

The following day we hired mountain bikes and set off for the wall of tears. A shocking reminder of Isabella’s tough convict heritage from 1946 that rivaled the cruelty of Tasmania’s convicts a February earlier. While I adventured further on the mountain bike Emilie and the kids found a beautiful sanctuary amongst the mangroves where the could swim all the way to the beach.

The day was too hot to explore further so we returned to the boat after another local lunch of empanadas and huge juices. That afternoon I was reading in the cockpit when a seal jumped clear out of the water and almost on the side deck!

Today we are sailing East towards Santa Maria otherwise known as Floriana.