Greg's Ecuadorian Adventure

My third and final island of my trip, Isabela . This is one of the youngest islands in the archipelago, as well as one of the most geologically active. I follow the Instituto Geofísico del Ecuador on Facebook, which is regularly posting updates about volcanic activity and temblors. Since mid-June, there have been near constant notices about 'quakes' measuring around 3.0 on the Richter scale. Additionally, the Sierra Negra   volcano has been continuously erupting since June 26 of this year, growing the island. Admittedly, I was a little distressed about this when planning my trip; after arriving, I realized that these two geologic processes posed no real risk. The eruption is occurring on the opposite side of Sierra Negra than where Puerto Villamil is situated, and 3.0 earthquakes are barely detectable. Arriving here was quite the journey, quite the day. I left Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristóbal by boat at 7 AM to Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz , a boat ride with a durat...

My second destination was San Cristóbal , one of the oldest islands in the Galápagos . My speedboat left in the afternoon, and a couples hours after passing over choppy waters, we arrived in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno . Here I was immediately was greeted by colonies and rafts of sea lions. My goodness! They were everywhere. on rocks, in the water, on the narrow strips of beaches, laying on the malecón . I was worried that I'd not experience hoards of sea lions this after my time around Santa Cruz, especially when guides kept saying the most recent El Niño decimated the population from about 40,000 to 15,000, total. Yet there seemed to exist no shortage of this endemic Galápagos species on San Cristóbal. In Santa Cruz , I was fast losing hope for seeing them since the single one I saw was a juvenile on Isla Bartolomé . However, less than barks and more like dry-retches filled my ears and took me by wonder as I strolled down the muelle  in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. In due time, ...