10/15: A Last Morning with Flamingos & Iguanas on Isla Isabela, Galapagos

We walked down to the beach intending to lie on the sand for a couple of hours before catching the afternoon ferry back to Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz, i.e. the same place we’d spent four nights at the beginning of our trip to the Galapagos.

Suellen: I thought of you and Ron as we passed this restaurant as each table was topped by a huge shell.

But it was misting and a little chilly so Steven wisely suggested we walk again on the boardwalk toward the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center again.

Our first day on the island, we’d seen iguanas and flamingos so we were curious as to what we might see this time. The sight of the baby and the huge iguanas didn’t disappoint us!

We came across a BBC crew filming a British family living in the Galapagos for a few months, presumably for an upcoming documentary. They were watching about a dozen flamingos in the lagoon. The father was imitating the flamingos and teaching his young daughters that flamingos hunt for food by stomping their feet up and down in the water which disturbs the fish. It was cute how the girls then imitated their dad in the 'flamingo hunt for food dance'! 

Seeing the brightly colored flamingos fly off and then land a short while later was so much fun to watch.

The color of the flamingos was so incredibly vibrant and their movements so graceful, the whole experience was nothing short of intoxicating.

I found it hard t pull myself away from the flamingos, not knowing if or when we might see them again.

The weather cleared so we returned to sit on the deserted beach and then had a hoot watching countless iguanas cavorting on the rocks.

It was much easier for me to take photos of the pelican flying than the flamingo!

Another of the psychedelically-colored sally lightfoot crabs we saw in the islands.

What unusual colors both the lizard and crab were. They certainly blended in well with the rocks, though.

All too soon we reluctantly had to walk back to our hotel and collect our stuff to make our way to the dock. 

Our hotel in Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela:

The boat taxi took us to our boat, Miss Julie, with only five other passengers aboard for the two hour ride back to Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz. Our ride over from Puerto Ayora had been pretty hellish because of mechanical problems so we figured we were due for a gentler ride back. 

No such luck, however. It was a pounding, bone-jarring ride back and we both had headaches and neck pain from what we both thought was our worst trip ever. Isla Isabela was spectacular and far surpassed our every expectation but the process of getting there and back was pretty lousy!

Next post: A relaxing day back on Puerto Ayora.

Posted at long last on November 30th, 2017, from Valparaiso, Chile!