Last night we retired early in view of a forthcoming 05.30 wake-up call. We were due to leave Santa Cruz to sail to Isabela at 23.00. The captain starting the engine woke me up. It wasn’t rough, but there was obviously more movement, so it took me a while to get back to sleep.
Reluctantly we rose after the alarm bell. At 06.00 we were off on our first excursion in the pangas. Dropped at a pathway through lichen covered lava, we walked past marine iguanas and sea lions to a narrow channel through the rocks. As the sheltered water is warmer, the channel was full of hundreds of white fin tipped reef sharks. A large turtle also swam leisurely by.
Returning to the pangas and Fragata, it was now snorkelling time. Neither of us snorkel so Dennis stayed on board to write yesterday’s blog, while I went on the panga to watch the snorkelling. Looking overboard from the panga, I saw a ray, some coral and a sea lion. The water was too choppy or deep to see much.
Once we returned to Fragata it was time for breakfast, at last. No let up though. Next we were off on land trip to a another tortoise breeding centre. The tortoises are fed on 3 days of the week and Wednesday is a feeding day. They were climbing all over each other fighting to get at the food. A different breed of tortoise here.
Next stop was a lake to see flamingos. Very pink, due to the type of shrimp they consume, but few in number. About 8 in total.
Then a boardwalk through a mangrove forest to a sheltered bay. There were a few snorkelers and the now becoming usual, marine iguanas and sea lions. Red crabs are everywhere climbing on the rocks. Back at the dock at 11.20 to return to Fragata for lunch. Then a well earned rest until 14.15.
Off again for more exercise. This time a 7km, each way, mountain bike ride, which 6 of us took, to The Wall of Tears. A place none of us had heard of. The wall was constructed between 1945 and 1959 by prisoners in a penal colony here on Isabela Island. It was established by President. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra in 1944, using infrastructure left by the US military after World War II.
The wall serves absolutely no purpose and is just an example of man’s cruelty to one’s fellow man. It is 65ft (25 m) tall and is said to have caused the death of thousands during its construction.
On the way to shore before the bike ride, we came across swooping and diving frigate birds, attracted by a fishing vessel and a group of spotted eagle rays.
We were back at the Fragata just before 18.00, then a briefing on tomorrow’s activities at 18.30, followed by dinner.
Tomorrow breakfast is at 07.00, so a slightly later start. Overnight we will sail to the island of Rabida, an unpopulated island. It’s known as the red island, as a result of oxidation when it was formed. We are to visit a red sand beach. Later in the day, we will sail to the northern side of Santa Cruz, not too far from the airport.
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