We started off the day with a hike over lava fields on Isabella. Isabella is shaped like a sea horse and has five active volcanoes. Walking over black lava flows in Equatorial heat would give a new meaning to being hot but fortunately for us there was a sweet wind. We observed penguins, flamingos, turtles, sea lions, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and the adorable Sally Lightfoot Crabs ( to name a few).
Later we went snorkeling. Unreal! There is really no searching involved. You swim among hundreds of varieties of fish. I love following the sea turtles which are prolific. You can dive through massive schools of shimmering fish which turn magically in unison and reflect the sunlight.
The routine is that we head back via a panga to the ship for lunch everyday and go back on another excursion after lunch.
Today on a panga adventure through the mangrove trees we were excited to watch a fight between a cormorant and an octopus. The comorant won and swallowed the octopus whole. Quite a display. The guide, Sylvia, had only seen that a few times in twenty years of guiding so to capture that on film was quite rare.