May 2 – Isla Isabela

Mangroves on lava

A unique panga ride through the mangrove lagoon at Elizabeth Bay allowed us to see many sea turtles, a spotted eagle, rays, penguins and cormorants. Luis stopped the motor and paddled us through narrow channels in the mangroves.

 
All were amazed at the sea lions hauled out on the branches of the mangrove trees. Biti said it's the only known place where sea lions "climb trees".

The sea turtles approached quite near the panga allowing even those with lesser cameras to snap a picture.


The bright equatorial sun of the morning gave way to drizzle and rough seas to Punta Moreno.  The snorkelers thinned out to a few diehards in these conditions, but those that ventured in were treated to turtles, a sea lion, fish and a long striped snake-like creature. The highlights of the afternoon snorkeling were the very well camouflaged sea horses that Biti managed to find. The rough seas made for exciting disembarking - at one point Kevin was stretched between the Beagle and the panga unsure where safety lay.

Mariley meets cactus

Rain somewhat dampened the walk across lava fields where we saw Darwin's aster, lava cactus, candelabra cactus and prickly pear cactus. Mariley got a little too close requiring Biti's first aid skills to extract the prickly pear cactus spine.

Flamingos tails up

Brilliant salmon-colored flamingos greeted us in a couple of interior lagoons. With their heads underwater feeding, they looked like Olympic synchronized swimmers.


A lot of iron in the lava made for pretty colors we might not have seen on a sunny day. Fortunately, the seas had calmed somewhat for the return panga ride to the Beagle.

The seas picked up again as we cruised toward Puerto Villamil and everyone was thankful when we arrived in the protected harbor about 1:00 am.