04/26/2023 to 04/28/2023 - Isabela / Galapagos

It looks like a seahorse and is the largest of the Galapagos Islands at 4,588 square kilometers. In addition, it is the only one directly on the equator and has 6 active volcanoes to offer. Isabela is a special island. We are staying for 3 nights in the main town, Puerto Villamil, in the very south of the island. We walked through the small town and visited the fine sandy beach during the day and at sunset. We cooked a lot ourselves because we still had to use up the food we had started. But one evening we had the morning's catch from the sea on our plates, which was very tasty. Right next to the small harbor of Puerto Villamil there is a fine sandy beach, which the sea lions and the benches use almost completely alone. We have observed these wonderful animals for a long time.

One day we rented bikes early in the morning and headed west. 7 kilometers along a diverse landscape - beach, green avenues, huge cacti and the occasional iguana or turtle. There is a stone wall at the end of the track. We were on the site of a former WWII convict colony. 300 criminals from the mainland lived here in total seclusion until 1959. The prisoners were forced to build a wall, lava stone after lava stone they put on top of each other without a reason behind it. It is referred to as the Wall of Tears. From here we walked a few more meters to get a great view of the interior and the coast of Isabela. On our return trip we stopped at beaches, a lava tube, the mangroves, bird watching, leguna and pelicans. We were back in our accommodation before noon and were glad to have started so early and no longer have to cycle in 35 degrees and the midday sun.

On the last day we took the speedboat back to Santa Cruz around 3 p.m. in order to take a taxi to the airport the next day and fly back to the mainland. Oh yes, speedboat... We started quickly and ended up arriving at Santa Cruz two hours late. In between, the engines failed because we didn't have enough fuel. All suitcases and passengers were loaded into the boat from the front to the back, so that maybe a drop of petrol will spill over. But nothing happened. 1.5 hours we drifted on the open sea and waited for another boat, which delivered 4 huge petrol cans and we went on.