Galapagos: August 2022: Day 5: Isla Isabela

Index
Day 1 - Guayaquil
Day 2 - Embarkation
Day 3 - N. Seymour/Rabida
Day 4 - Fernandina/Isabela
Day 5 - Isabela
Day 6 - Santiago
Day 7 - Santa Cruz
Day 8 - San Cristobal
Day 9 - San Cristobal
Day 10 - Return

Galapagos

August 2022: Day 5: Isabela

First giant tortoise sighting of the trip, on Isla Isabela.

Big land iguana.

Lots of land iguanas.

Close-up.

One more shot.

Another passenger accidentially activated a life preserver. Giovanni's cleaning it up to be repacked and reused.

Wetsuits hanging to dry, the shorties are complimentary onboard.

Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic.

Brown pelican with brown and white coloration.

Galapagos penguins putting on a show.

Jose, one of the expert zodiac drivers.

Penguin family.

Proud parent.

From the lighter heads, guessing these are brown noddy terns.

Nazca booby.

Exiting a sea cave on Isla Isabela.

Blue-footed booby.

Humpback whale mother and calf.

Clearer shot of the calf.

No cropping needed. That close.

Final shot of the humpbacks. We were the last zodiac back to the boat. Oops.

The second day at Isla Isabela begins with a lengthy walk among very large land iguanas, complimented by a single giant tortoise who was blissfully indifferent to the hundreds of photographs being taken as he/she napped just off the black sand beach.

Stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking after lunch, where I ungraciously fell into the water right within sight of the only penguin in the whole cove-- I definitely felt judged! *grins*

The afternoon zodiac ride around Targus Cove brought some up-close-and-personal sightings of many, many more Galapagos penguins, including one pair demonstrating the end of mating season. A large flock of what I think were brown noddy terns were fishing nearby, and not be forgotten, Nazca boobies were around in only slightly smaller numbers.

A pair of humpback whales were the icing on the cake for the zodiac ride. Alicia had spotted them nearly an hour earlier in the distance, and as we began to head back to the ship, some other sharp-eyed passengers spotted them. Salvador eagerly drove us far out of the way to see them, revealing a mother and calf as the sun began to set, complete with another cruise ship further in the distance-- so worth the detour!