Bar de Beto, Isabella Island

Today was a massive day, and choosing a blip caused me a great deal of stress because I had far too many to choose from! I guess it's a good problem to have. We started with a 5:40am wake up call so we could visit Las Tintoreras on the South Coast of Isabella Island before sunrise. We saw countless marine iguanas, red crabs and a few sea lions lounging around. The landscape was formed by fast moving and fast cooling lava which leads to jagged, spiky Aa (ah-ah) rock. On the dingy ride back to Q.B. we saw some penguins and blue footed boobies - because my camera has a pitiful zoom, I left that photo taking up to Willy.

After a buffet breakfast we went snorkelling again. the water was still a bit cloudy but got to swim with a baby sea lion (amazing!) and saw a sea turtle from a distance. After lunch we returned to Isabella Island for the afternoon activities. We went for a short board walk through the mangroves and saw more sea lions and iguanas along the way.

Next stop was the Wall of Tears- a gigantic stone wall built solely of volcanic rock by the prisoners of the penal colony that was on Isabella Island between 1946 and 1959. One day they revolted, tied up the guards and hijacked a boat that was docked nearby. They drank all the wine on board and sailed 5km to a nearby town and denounced the conditions in which they were forced to live and work. The rebellion lead to the end of the penal colony and the “Wall of Tears” in Puerto Villamil remains as a testament to the cruelty of the prison.

Next up we saw pink flamingos in a lagoon before visiting a giant tortoise captive breeding centre. We walked back to the small beach side town and had free time to relax at the beachfront Bar de Beto for the afternoon, which is where I took the photo you see above. We drank beer and cocktails, used the wi-fi and watched the sunset. I chose this photo 1) because it is beautiful; and 2) it reminds me of the entire day and how incredibly happy and impressed I was by Isabella Island.