last day Galapagos

Yesterday was my last day in Isabela. I took the 6 a.m. boat back to Puerto Ayora . On the boat there was a woman with twins, little babies. When she boarded the boat she gave me one to hold and a man sitting nearby the second one, so she could step into the boat. When we arrived she needed to change diapers. That was on the pier. 

I spent another day and night in Renato's beautiful hotel at the sea. Until my room was ready, at 11, I sat in the beautiful restaurant at the sea writing my blog and photographing birds flying and fishing. There were several boobies fishing there. First they fly and observe the water

and the moment they see a fish, they dive vertically down

I love to watch them. 

I think he spotted a fish!

this is my favorite place at the restaurant, by the water. Notice the baby iguana?

At noon I hiked 3,5 km. to probably the most beautiful beach on Santa Cruz, Tortuga Bay. There were not so many people there although it was Sunday, probably because of the distance. But the trail leading to Tortuga Bay is beautiful. On both sides dense forests of trees and high Opuntia Cactuses, a sort endemic to the Galapagos. The fruits are a source of food for the iguanas and tortoises.

Here you can see thee size of such a cactus tree. They can be huge.

I got my first chance to photograph a Galapagos mockingbird

After walking for about 2,5 km. you arrivee at a beautiful beach with high waves for surfers. It was fun watching them, although they did not stay long on the surfboard.

After about another 500 m. you arrive at a gorgeous bay where there is totally quiet water, like in a pool. a beautiful sand beach with trees growing so there is a bit of shadow. The water is wonderfuly warm and clear and there are lots of fish swimming around.

Along the beach (you can see it on the right side of the picture) there are lots of wooden hangers where you can hang your bag, clotzhers and towels. It is more brautiful than the beaches I have seen in the Caribe.

It was very difficult to say good bye to this place and the Galapagos. This is the path that leads to Tortuga Bay.

and here the stem of an Opuntia cactus to compare it with thee stem of a tree in the back.

On the way back I photographed an information center, I liked the architecture

They also have public toilets in Puerto Ayora

and pretty art galeries.

This was my last day in Santa Cruz. Monday morrning I flew to Guayaquil, on Tuesday from there to New Jersey and from here I am flying to Frankfurt for 2,5 days and then back home. It is another world and it will be difficult to adjust.
I might make one more post with photos of some of the things and places I forgot in my other posts.
I wish you all, that you may have a chance to visit Galapagos some day. It is magical.

more Isabela

A beautiful hike in Isabela is to the wetlands. There are several lagoons with beautiful birds. First I walked a few kilometers along the beach.
on the other side of the trail are the lagoons.

I love the way the clouds mirror in the wet sand which has a thin film of water covering it.

On the other side there were some black clouds that looked as if they were falling down on the ground

the clouds are special here

I was wondering whose footprints these are

On the way to the turtle growing center (centro de crianza de tortugas) there were some especially beautiful lagoons with birds.

I love the color of the vegetation mirroring in the water

in some lagoons the water was dark red!

the white spot is a cloud mirroring in the lagoon!

this bird is so delicate

I stayed the last 3 nights in Isabela in a lovely hotel at the beach belonging to a known Ecuatorian artist, Maurricio Gobo. He decorated the rooms with his paintings and the ways around tthe hotel with his mosaics. Here my room.

The hotel is on the beach and from the large window there is a fantastic view

and one of Mauricio's mosaics

back to Isabela

After returning from the cruise the others flew home and I returned to Puerto Ayora from where I took a boat to Isabela. I love those small motorboats that jump over the waves and somehow I always manage to get a seat upstairs behind the captain. Here the boat with which I returned from isabela, to show you how such a boat looks. 

Puerto Villamil, the habitated town in Isabela, has approximately 3000 inhabitants. The town itself is not special. Almost every house is either a hotel or a restaurant or both and they are building a lot. The whole town is oriented towards the turists. There seems to be much less agriculture here than in San Cristobal and Santa Cruz. When you go into the superrmarket you can hardly find any fruits or vegetables, in best case a few bananas and tomatoes.

I loved the street lights in Puerto Villamil. Aren't they cute?

I stayed there 4 days, enjoyed snorkeling (except for some medusas that got me on the first day!) , swimming, lying in the hammock and I made one beautiful tour to Volcano Sierra Negra and Volcano Chico.

Volcano Sierra Negra is one of the most active volcanos in Galapagos and its last eruption was 2005 . Luckily puerto Villamil was not damaged. Sieerra Negra is 1124 m. high. The crater of this volcano has a diameter of 10 km. and is the second largest in the world. I could always get only parts of it on a picture. 

I had to go on an organized tour because you are not allowed to go alone. There were 32 persons, each paid $40 and the agency allowed for the hike of 16 km. + lunch 5 hours. That was definitely too short a time. The guide was walking so fast, that I would have had to run to keep pace with him. when they rested and I arrived where the group was I told him to slow down, but he ssaid the company did not give them more time , they wanted them to be back at 2 so people could book another tour in the afternoon. This really made me furious. And the rest of the group just walked as fast as the guide, did not have time to look to the sides, see the flowers, the birds, the scenery. It was crazy. I striked. When we came to a spot where they said we could have lunch I said- I am going on to volcano Chico by myself. The guide did not oppose. I missed his explanations but that was the part of the hike I really enjoyed. I walked all the way alone, also back arrived last but hey were not even ready to go, no idea what they made at the parking place.

Anyway, the way to volcan Chico is beautiful. First we walked along the rim of the crater for several km. and then to this second volcano, which is northeast of the crater of Sierra negra. This volcano is somewhat less high. It erupted last time in 1979. it has fascinating colors. Unfortunately I missed the explanation for the reason of theese colors (actually, I am not sure he knows). The whole scenery there is fantastic.

There were many beautiful flowers growing on the way.

there are lots of wild Guayaba trees, this is the flower of one. The birds love the guayabas, I can understand them. 

there are even lots of wild growing physalis

I am quite sure the others in the group didn't even notice them. In Isabeela there is also no water, it doesn't rain much but there is often fog on the volcano and this allows the vegetation to grow.

On the way back, the colors of the crater had changed due to the fifferent light. there should be tours going down into the crater but they are very rare, unfortunately. I would have loved to go. It is supposed to be beautiful. You can see there sulfur formations, active fumaroles, may be next time.... 22 days were much too short in a place like the Galapagos.