We’d moved again overnight and moored just
outside Punta Villamil on Isabela. This
is the largest island in with archipelago, formed approximately 1 million years
ago by the merger of 6 shield volcanoes.
5 of the 6 volcanoes are still active and this morning’s activity was a
fairly long climb up to the rim of the Sierra Negra crater.
We had a dry landing and once again found sea
lions making themselves at home around the landing stage.
We then boarded an open sided truck with
seats and drove for some 15 mins up into the hills. Whilst the weather at sea level had been quite
clear, as soon as we got away from the coast it clouded over and fine rain
began which was a real shame. The climb
was quite hard and slippery over wet grass and boulders and I was glad of my
walking pole and when we got to the top the view was completely obscured by
cloud.
During the drive back down I persuaded Juan to stop briefly so I could photograph this Brugmansia candida which grows freely is this moist cloud forest environment.
After lunch (back on the boat as always) we visited another Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre. Unfortunately both of us had upset stomachs so we paid little attention and spent most of the time near the loo!
We then walked a 2km boardwalk and saw a few more flamingos. Again, I'd imagined a giant flock of them but apparently there are only about 500 in the whole archipelago - so 467 to go.
I can't remember what kind of duck this was
We then had several hours downtime in this rather grotty seaside/surfing village, this was the only place we'd found litter. The original idea was to go for a special Coco Loco drink ? but the particular bar was closed, along with many others. Once again Ian and I just sat fairly near the public toilets - not too nice - and tried to catch a few surfers.
It was almost dark when we got back to our little boat and both of us felt it rather a wasted afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting.