We got up very early to take a 6:00 am panga ride in Elizabeth Bay to explore the shallows and mangroves to look for sea turtles, penguins and birds. It was heaven! It wasn't hot yet and we saw many sea turtles, rays, and fish in the water as well as pelicans, flightless cormorants, blue-footed boobies and even an elusive Galápagos hawk. Derces was our driver/ guide as Alberto was in the other panga. To be honest, it was nice not having detailed, long-winded lectures for a change. I enjoy the information but sometimes you just want to enjoy the scenery in peace. We did have 1 incident where we hit a rock but we were going slow and I don't think there was much damage. In any event, we didn't sink and made it back to the boat with dry feet so all was well. Then, after 1 1/2 hours, It was back to the boat for breakfast and a 3 hour sail to Punta Moreno. We, then, went snorkelling and saw sea turtles, pelicans, lots of fish, and birds diving for fish. It's like you're looking into another world from above. Punta Morena is on the southwest coast of Isabela and you can see lava fields, volcanic landscapes, and amazing views of the three most active volcanoes in the Galápagos Islands. On the way there Alberto gave another lecture about the history of humans on the Galápagos archipelago - very interesting. Then we had lunch and rested for a while. Vic and I opted out of the hike on the lava fields. We can see the black rock from the comfort of the boat. There are no trees and we'd be walking on black rock so no respite from the sweltering heat. I think I've seen enough lava rock so we decided to skip this sauna-like hike. It was quiet on the boat and was like we have our own private yacht. I'm pretty sure that everyone is going to come back sweaty and miserable (even though they won't admit it). It was very windy. Our excitement was when one of the cushions blew off the boat into the ocean. We were running around securing the other cushions and telling the bridge what happened. They managed to retrieve it. Then the pangas were having a hard time getting back because of the waves and the boat had to set sail to help them out. When they finally got back in the boat they said it was nice but got boring after a while and admitted we didn't miss much. We had our briefing of activities for the next day, then had dinner and again had an early night. The motion was quite intense - the boat was rocking pretty good. It was difficult to stand up without bashing against a wall. Plus, the heat, hiking and snorkelling really saps your energy. Tomorrow is another early morning and a 4 hour hike up a volcano. Should be interesting!

Isabela aka (Albemarle) has over 1800 square miles (more than half the land surface area in the archipelago), and is about 80 miles in length. This seahorse-shaped land mass is the largest island in the Galapagos. This wasn't always the case as, originally, it consisted of six islands, each with an active volcano. The extensive lava flows from the six volcanoes (Cerro Azul, Sierra Negra, Alcedo, Darwin, Wolf, and Ecuador) joined together and formed what is today Isabela. Five of the six volcanoes (all but Ecuador) are still active. The Wolf Volcano is the highest point, at 5600 ft.