Feb 19 Side trip to Isabella Island
Skyelark was originally going to stop at Isabella Island prior to going to Santa Cruz, but due to circumstances we bypassed it so Dan could get back with a couple days to spare. He had offered to pay the ferry and hotel costs for anyone who wanted to visit the island, but I chose to pay my own way so as not to put an undue burden on them at this time. I wouldn’t ordinarily pay for a tour package, preferring to make my own way around, but one of the travel agencies offer 3 days/ 2 nights with ferry, meals and tours included for $220; I could have done it cheaper ($50) going on my own, but having not been there before and with a poor grasp of Spanish I thought it better to have things all arranged in advance.
The authorities inspect your bags before you leave, making sure you are not taking any prohibited items such as rocks, shells or fresh produce. The “ferry” was just a converted 25 foot cabin cruiser type boat and the trip took about 2 ½ hours, the heat inside the back to its toll on a few and one person got sick as we were nearing the island. Once on Isabella a water taxi came out to take us to the dock where we would board a taxi to take us to the hostel; I was happy to see penguins swimming around the dock as these and blue footed boobies are the last two animals on the list of those I wanted photos of. They are playful little buggers, floating face down then suddenly spinning round and round or flipping over on their backs and splashing their wings in the water.

A penguin donig the backstroke


A pelican dives in the water with part of the WARC fleet anchored in the background

I got on board an open truck with seats in the back along with another couple and a young woman from Australia; small world that it is, as we were chatting we found that the couple works for the UK based firm that is our parent company. They are working on an airport expansion project in Hong Kong we know some of the same people as I have done some work for our airport division, even more coincidental, his parents own one of the WARC boats and they are joining them for the leg to the Marquesas.
I had never stayed in a hostel before and always thought of them as cots lined up in a large room, here they are more like a regular hotel room; I have two queen beds, private bath with hot water shower, air conditioning and flat screen TV with cable. The room and grounds are fairly modern and clean and additional nights are only $25 single or $40 double. We dropped our stuff off and got freshened up then waited for our first tour which was a short ride to see flamingos. While waiting I met to French women who were searching for available accommodations without much success, making me happy with my decision to book the tour.
The flamingo viewing area that they took us to looked to be a small abandoned quarry where about 10 of the beautiful birds were wading in the water along with a few other species.



Flamingos

I got some photos and after 10 – 15 minutes we left and they dropped us off in town, just a 5 minute walk from the hotel, so we could see the iguana breeding area on the beach. There were hundreds of the creatures here including many small babies and large groups stacked upon each other, I would guess to maintain body temperature or something.

An iguana on a rock, they blend in very well


We stopped for our included dinner, nothing special, soup, choice of meat with rice and salad and a fresh juice. From there we bar hopped our way back to the hotel to drop off our cameras then wound up at a lively place across the road with good music and frequented by some of the other crews. I stayed out till about 11:30 and went to bed early as tomorrow a hike up the Sierra Negra volcano was planned.

Be warned there are no ATM's on the island and the bank won't give cash advances so if you ever come here bring all the money you need with you; credit cards are accepted by most tour companies and restaurants