As I mentioned in my prior entry, Isabela is the most beautiful island that I have ever been on. Granted, I haven’t actually been on that many islands, but I’m fairly certain that Isabela will remain one of my favorite places in the world even if I get to travel as I hope to do in the future. There is one continuous beautiful beach across the street from the town, volcanoes that serve as hiking trails, and islets around which to snorkel.
We took a boat from Puerto Ayora to Puerto Villamil on Isabela. As between Cristóbal and Santa Cruz, the journey took around 2 hours. Before traveling between each island you have to go through customs in which they briefly check your bags to make sure you aren’t purposely or accidentally transporting specimens between islands. Each of the islands has a very fragile ecosystem that could easily be upset by the introduction of new species. As noted by the introduction of goats, mora, guava, and even dogs and cats.
Around 2,500 people inhabit Isabela. It is one of the youngest islands in the Galápagos, which means some of its volcanoes are still active. The most recent volcanic activity on the island is from 2005. Fernandina, the smaller island to the west of Isabela, had an eruption just 2 years ago. Because the islands on the west side of the archipelago are so much younger than the islands on the east side, they are also taller and have more jagged rocks. The volcanic activity mixed with the different currents converging on the western side of Isabela means there are some species there that are not found throughout the rest of the archipelago. As on Santa Cruz, we had most of our afternoons in Isabela free. The first day most of us took advantage of this by utilizing the beautiful beach. I don’t know if the beach directly next to town has a name, but it was possibly more perfect than Tortuga Bay because of its proximity to where we were staying and the shade provided by the palm trees. There were also benches and 2 small wooden playgrounds. On one of the days the tide was high enough that the playgrounds were in a pond and kids were snorkeling around them. As if the island couldn’t be made more perfect, there was also a small bakery that sold delicious banana bread.
Our first day in paradise, we went snorkeling at a spot known as la concha perla. It’s a short walk from the port and from the actual town. In order to get to the lagoon you walk through a mangrove forest that has been cleared for a path to get through. I have probably mentioned them before, but mangroves grow very well in brackish water, so a mixture of salt and fresh water. They a stilt root system that gives them stability in the water, but also allows them access to water when the tide is low. Mangroves are also well adapted in that new plants start germinating off of their leaves so that they have some roots with which to attach to the ground before dropping from the parent plant. The lagoon had several sections separated by lava rocks. Throughout the area we could see marine iguana heads as they swam across the length of the lagoon. My classmates saw an army of marine iguanas swim past them when they went to the further section. There were also sea turtles and a penguin out in that direction. I stayed closer to the dock where there were a couple of sea lions, starfish, and other cool fish that we could follow around. Most of the time fish will just live their lives as we sit watching them. Sometimes they come up and nibble on you or stare at you as you float near them. There was also a small bit of coral in the lagoon.
Our next adventure is another one of those humbling experiences. We hiked the volcano known as volcán chico and walked around the caldera of Sierra Negra. A caldera is a volcanic crater that is often formed when the top of the volcano collapses. The start of the hike was at a base where everything is already covered in greenery. Most of the vegetation up there is native and endemic; however, there are still some trees that were introduced but are not invasive. The start of the hike was uphill and brought us above the caldera of Sierra Negra. Parts of the lava field were from the eruption in 2005. The caldera itself was about 11km in diameter. 
Along the hike I found some snails and during a rest we saw a Galápagos hawk that dropped a branch right near one of my classmates. After eating lunch under some very large trees covered in epiphytes, we went on our way to the actual volcanic part of our hike. There are 2 prominent types of lava rock formations that are formed from the volcanoes throughout the Galápagos. Aa lava formation creates taller pointy rocks. Pahoehoe lava formation creates smooth rocks that look like coiled rope. (The names of these formations come from Hawaii where there have always been people to name things.) Another difference in the lava fields comes from age and oxidation of the different element compositions of the rocks. The newer lava fields are all black whereas the older lava fields have had time to oxidize and are a rusty red color. Throughout the rock formations and hills there are also oranges, yellows, and even blues, purples, and greens in the rocks all around. From the top of volcán chico we could see the Pacific on both sides of Isabela and Fernandina off to the west. 
Throughout the barren, smelly landscape there were also plants determined to grow wherever they could. Sometimes there was a single fern growing within a crack in a rock where it must pick up water from rain dripping through the cracks. Other times there were bunches of plants growing in valleys next to hills with yellow, orange and other colors. The smell at the top of the volcano was not quite sulfurous, but it was also not the normal smell of the air. Of course, there isn’t really a normal smell to the air as I noticed the smell of home in the clothes my mom sent to me and the smell of sea lions is certainly not what I’d call “normal” air. 
The next day we spent the day wandering around the island to many different places. The first place we stopped was el muro de las lagrimas, or the Wall of Tears. This is a monument of history that has a sad story behind it. Isabela was first colonized by the United States when during World War II they set up camp in the Galápagos in order to protect the Panama Canal. On Isabela there was a desalinization plant. On Baltra there is still the airport that America set up. After the war ended, the Americans left and Ecuador set up a penal colony on Isabela. The director decided that the best punishment for the prisoners would be to make them build their own prison by adding 3 walls to a cliff. As if this construction wasn’t bad enough, the prisoners had to get the rocks from a lava field that was 2km away and form bricks by breaking the rocks against each other. Because the bricks were not made correctly, sections of the wall would often fall. Out of the 300 prisoners that were sent to the island, only 40 were still alive 10 years later when the director was killed by a rock that fell off of the wall. A new director was sent to Isabela, but he did not make the prisoners complete the wall. This picture reveals just how far the prisoners were able to get in those 10 years. The next place we went to was a look out that showed Puerto Villamil as well as the surrounding green island. The lookout is named after a moss that was overharvested for a reason that I cannot remember. There are lakes that are made from rainwater streaming down the mountains. At the top of the lookout there was a very brave lizard that kept running across the steps as well as some mockingbirds. I always find it interesting that the same family of birds could live 3,000 miles apart and more.
From there we headed to another place along the same road where we were able to wade through a river with mangroves that are hundreds of years old. Some of the mangroves were large enough to contend with the old oak and maple trees back home. That’s because this area has a perfect brackish mixture from the incoming currents. Walking through the river was interesting as we tried to stay dry and often found sinkholes. At one point the soil was more like a trampoline unless you stood on it for too long and also started to sink. At the end of the “river” was an opening to what turned out to be the other side of a group of rocks off of Playa de Amor, which essentially is connected to the beach in front of Puerto Villamil. The rocks outside of the mangroves hold tide pools that include tiny sea green sea anemones, shrimp, hermit crabs, and fish. There were also a few large marine iguanas eating some algae off of the rocks around the area.
The day’s journeys were not over yet as we went to look at flamingos in a manmade pool. The flamingos that are here travel throughout the world to places such as Africa, the mainland of South America and I believe Indonesia. The flamingos were prettier than I expected as they moved around and showed off the black plumage that lines the end of their wings. Before lunch we squeezed in one more visit to the tortoise sanctuary on Isabela. Unlike Santa Cruz and Cristóbal, Isabel has 5 different subspecies of tortoises. The tortoises also have much more room in the pens that they are kept in on Isabel and are being transplanted as they grow up to restore the populations around the islands. As ridiculous as tortoises can be, they were curious at the reserve as they poked their heads over each other to see who was visiting them. The babies even ran over to us, but I think they expect food from people. 
In the afternoon we were supposed to go snorkeling; however, because of a swell in the tides, the area in which we were supposed to snorkel was too rough for us to go into nor would we be able to see anything from the turbulent water. We still visited the islet where juvenile and adult marine iguanas make their home as well as some lizards and sea lions. Around the islet there are stretches of land covered in dried out coral. The aa lava rocks on the islet are covered in white lichen on the side where the ocean sprays them due to the moisture. This means that as you stand on the islet there is white to one side of you and black to the other side. During this expedition we also stopped by some other islets and had our first sightings of Galápagos penguins, which are very small penguins. 
We had our last day on the island free. Most of us did some essential stuff such as laundry and then headed off to various beaches. I went to Playa de Amor with some of my friends and spent the afternoon under the sun. Considering how long I was there for and the time at which I was there, I suppose my burnt stomach and legs could have been a lot worse. Sadly, the current at Playa de Amor was far too strong to attempt swimming despite the beautiful water. As usual there were pelicans and marine iguanas around the beach as well as these really neat little crabs that hid in their holes whenever we approached them. As the sun sets on this beautiful day, I still hope that spring will come for good sometime soon and that until then everyone survives the ever-lasting winter. Best wishes to everyone at home! (The pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them!)
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