We are halfway through our expedition on National Geographic Endeavour II, and it has been an incredible experience so far. Today we anchored in a place call Urbina Bay. We started the day with a wet landing on a black sand beach. The island’s unique coloration is due to inorganic sand consisting of pieces of weathered rock. On our walk, we had the chance to observe tortoises, turtles, land iguanas, and more. The wildlife found on the Galapagos Islands is incredible. After the walk, we enjoyed time on the beach and swimming back to the boat. Later in the day, we changed location to Tagus Cove, a collapsed cinder cone. We had the chance to practice kayaking and then enjoyed an extraordinary snorkel with penguins, flightless cormorants, rays, and various species of reef fish found in the marine reserve. At the end of the day, we hiked to the summits of the scoria cones found on Darwin Volcano.
5/6/2025
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Isabela Island
Navigation brought us to the largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago, Isabela. Holding half of all land mass in the Galapagos, it has a diverse selection of ecosystems that we were able to visit. Urvina Bay was geologically uplifted in the 1950’s, taking two square kilometers of seafloor that was thrust upward, in certain areas up to four meters out of the water. Intertidal species were stranded inland, and we walked upon this area. Galapagos giant tortoises and land iguanas were found on our trail, and we were surrounded by Darwin finches and Galapagos mockingbirds. The afternoon brought us to Tagus Cove where we explored the surrounding waters, encountering Galapagos penguins and Pacific green sea turtles swimming among the kayakers and snorkelers. As the sun dipped below the horizon, adventurous hikers took a fast-paced hike to enjoy an incredible view of Darwin Lake and the immense island of Isabela.
