Day 328: Isabela Island – Day 4
The only activity we had yet to do on Isabela was to go snorkeling in the Concha de Perla cove – a site right next to the pier (thus within walking distance) that is known for penguin sightings. Seeing the only tropical penguin in the world was one of the main reasons we came to Isabela in the first place, so it was a must-do. We rented a set of snorkels and fins from an agency in town the night before so that we could walk over first thing in the morning and hopefully have the cove to ourselves. One other couple beat us by a few minutes, but the place was big enough that we all had plenty of space to enjoy the sea life.
Early morning snorkeling in Concha de Perla – jumping off the dock into the cool, clear water
Swimming through schools of fish, and passing over a huge Marbled Stingray
A school of a dozen stingrays flap by underneath us
PENGUINS!!! At last, we find a pair of Galápagos Penguins, hunting for small fish in Isabela Island
The penguins are not shy, but they are only interested in fish. Once the school scatters, they dart away into the blue
Sea lions rolling around in the water next to the dock
Lindsay and a sea lion check each other out below and above the surface
A marine iguana clings to the side of the dock
When Lindsay gets out of the water, she can’t find her sunglasses, which she left sitting on the bench. A pair of a lions are now sleeping directly below…maybe they are lying on top of her glasses? It takes a few minutes of carefully poking the lobos with our selfie stick to get them to move over enough to verify the sunglasses are gone
We finally have to conclude that someone came and took Lindsay’s sunglasses. Igor remembered seeing a sketchy guy show up all by himself without a snorkel (and without sunglasses!) – he even caught him on camera. Other than that guy, we were the first ones to leave the cove, so there was no one else to take the glasses. THIEF!!!! (Thus concludes Sherlock Lindsay. Igor suggested she report it to the police, but she felt a bit silly given it was a pair of USD $5 glasses. Whatever – they didn’t even have UV protection – I hope that guy goes blind.)
We technically didn’t need to stay on Isabela another night, as we had plenty of time to make the 2PM ferry to Santa Cruz. However, the ferry was unpleasant enough during the cool hours of the morning – we couldn’t imagine suffering through the crowded, bumpy ride in the heat of the afternoon. Our hotel didn’t have availability for another night, so we had to move our stuff across town to the Volcano Hotel. Totally worth the effort tho, we got a huge room with an amazing view of the beach. After check-in, we once again spent the hottest part of the day hiding indoors with the AC on full blast, then emerged to do something incredibly productive: build sandcastles on the beach!
Our new, oceanview hotel room – nice upgrade!
Igor the sand artist creates a giant iguana on the beach
Lindsay loves her handsome, talented baby!
We finish the iguana just as the sun sinks below the horizon. While there is still a little bit of light in the sky, our fellow tourists walk over to Igor’s iguana to take pictures
Lindsay orders with her stomach – a ridiculously big, extra large pizza. By the time she finished her last slice, she felt like her tummy would explode.
Our hotel room has two full-sized beds. Igor says, “Honey – I love you – but I am so happy I have my own bed tonight,” as he passes out. I love too, you. Sleep well.