20240605 Celebrity Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip, Day #7 - Galapagos, Isabela Island

Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip - Isabela Island - Elizabeth Bay and Punta Moreno

OK - I can't explain it but yesterday's blog post got corrupted after I published it. Videos disappeared, and photos disappeared. I don't know what happened, but it's fixed now. If you're interested, check it out again for the previously missing content.

Here's a surprise. Today was another amazing day!  Shocking, right?

We were around Isabela Island today. Isabela Island is the largest island in the Galapagos archipelago. Landings are not allowed here as it is kept natural. This morning, we enjoyed a two-hour Zodiac ride around parts of the island.

Small islets were scattered here and there

We have seen plenty of frigates here in the Galapagos but today was the closest we've been able to get to them. This is a female magnificent frigate. Magnificent frigates have a blue tint around the eyes while great frigates have red.

Next, we stumbled upon a large group of golden eagle rays. 

Our next find was a pair of nesting flightless cormorants, endemic to the Galapagos.

Oh, those blue eyes

What do you call a bunch of goofy-looking people with cameras on a boat?

Tourists! Ha ha ha!

Do I have something on my bill?

Snack time!

Family photo

As we were backing away, we could see some splashing. A seal lion was playing with, and then eating an octopus.

We saw our first marine iguana. Talk about looking prehistoric.

We also saw two Galapagos penguins - a real treat.

We headed down a narrow channel. It was nearly silent with the mangroves on all sides.

An acrobatic sea lion who climbed a tree for a snooze

We spotted a ray from the surface

We saw this from the surface and took a look under the water

The naturalist called this a chocolate chip starfish

After returning to the ship, we got lunch and then we got ready for our afternoon snorkel at Punta Moreno on Isabela Island. Before we left, we got the opportunity to tour the bridge.

The bridge is staffed by two officers at all times. The Xpedition is a single-engine, single-propeller with a maximum speed of 15 knots. Its regular cruising speed is 12 knots.

The navigation officer showed us some equipment

Arlona, checking out the equipment

The main controls

Master of the Vessel, Captian Nathaly at her station

It was an interesting tour, especially seeing the differences between the bridge on a small vessel like this compared to the larger cruise ship bridges we have toured.

We ducked out early and headed down for our excursion - another deep-water snorkel. The ocean was rough this afternoon, making for challenging conditions and limited visibility. In addition, the water temperature was several degrees cooler than the already cool water we have been in this week. Woo.  We jumped in and started looking around.

It looked like a lot going on but it was too murky to see well

What are all these folks looking at?

Aha - a sea turtle

Arlona did see this fish

We were glad when our guide, Diego signaled that it was time to return to the Zodiac as we were both worn out from swimming with the currents and the cold.

When we got back to the ship, we had an hour to take a hot shower, change clothes, get photo equipment packed, and head down to the Zodiacs for our afternoon Zodiac ride around Punta Moreno on Isabela Island. With the choppy seas, it was a rougher ride than we had been used to but our skilled captain, Kevin, got us everywhere safely and smoothly.

The landscape here is lovely. There are six volcanos on Isabela Island and five were visible from our location.

We saw several Galapagos penguins, some in pairs and some solo.

We saw many flightless cormorants. Some were solo, some were nesting pairs, and some were in large groups.

All that white stuff is cormorant poop - an interesting decorating choice

One of the day's highlights was the huge number of marine iguanas. We had heard about "piles" of iguanas. Now, we understand.

The cormorant just hung out with his iguana buddies

There are at least twelve iguanas in this photo

This is what they mean by "piles"

Finally, we saw a brown pelican.

It seemed friendly enough but then...

It expressed its opinion of us being there

It was a great afternoon on the Zodiac. We returned to the ship and headed to tonight's Captain's wine and cheese gathering. That carried into a presentation on other Celebrity cruises and a presentation on the Galapagos Fund which helps fund programs to promote education, ecology, and occupations in the Galapagos. Celebrity put their money where their mouth is. If someone donates $250, Celebrity will comp the person with a $250 future cruise certificate. Nice. We ate another nice dinner and headed to the room, missing the staff's entertainment tonight with singing and dancing. We were both whipped from today.

Tomorrow is, surprise-surprise another big day. We will be gone from the ship from 8-4, visiting various places on Santa Cruz Island. Time for some sleep.