Galapagos Trip 2023 -- Day 3 -- Tagus Cove, Isabela Island

After leaving Urbina Bay early due to the large waves, the ship weighed anchor and headed north through Bolivar Channel to the location of the afternoon adventures, Tagus Cove.  

Green lines are part of the gps track for Day 2.  Yellow lines are for Day 3.

As we made our way up the channel we could clearly see the lava fields that went down to the water on Fernandina Island as we passed by.  We were also on the lookout for things in the water.  The channel is known for dolphins and whales.  Some people thought they spotted something and the Frog went out on deck, but I am not sure what, if anything, could be identified.

It only took the ship about 1.5 hours to reach Tagus Cove.  I did not realize it at the time, but we were almost directly across the channel from Punta Espinosa, the location of our afternoon adventure the day before.  We ate lunch in the new anchorage just outside the cove.

Tagus Cove is a sheltered deep-water bay that has been used by ships for centuries.  Geologically it is a former caldera that has partially collapsed into the sea.  As can be seen on the map below, the caldera contains a lake that sits above the bay, Darwin Lake.  More on that later.

Green line is gps track for Day 2.  Yellow line is for Day 3.  As you can see from the track, we never actually entered the cove on our adventures, but went along the outer edge of the old caldera.

Early afternoon activities.  After lunch there were both early and late afternoon activities.  Tagus Cove is well protected from the ocean waves, so it was an opportunity for a variety of water activities including kayaking and paddle boarding.  

James is on the right trying out paddle boarding.

Some folks taking a picture in Tagus Cove of a penguin that was sitting on the rocks.  Those are other ships anchored in the bay.  The La Pinta was just outside the bay.

I don't remember what Paul and Gwen did, although I know they did something.  We decided to pass and just take it easy for a little while.

Late afternoon activities.  The late afternoon activities were either a panga ride to check out the wildlife along the water's edge just outside the cove (what we did), or a hike up to the top of the caldera edge above the lake. 

I was a little disappointed that we could not do the hike, since it is one of the iconic locations on the islands.  However it requires climbing about 150 steps.  The guides explained in the briefing multiple times that it would be a "power climb" without stopping for pictures.  They seemed to be signalling very clearly that they did not want any of us that might have problems with stairs on this activity.  At least Paul, Gwen, and James went and could tell us about it later.

Off on the panga.  With cameras in hand, we loaded into the panga and were off.

Much to our surprise we began to see multiple penguins.  We had been so happy to catch even a glimpse of any swimming near the pangas on previous days.  After all, how often do you get to see penguins in the tropics!  Now they were scattered all along the shore sitting on the rocks.

A penguin just sitting on the rocks as we go by.

More penguins hanging out on the rocks.

The guide indicated that was normal.  Apparently they tend to hunt for food by swimming in the morning, then hang out on the rocks in the afternoon.

Unlike yesterday, we saw very few marine iguanas.  When we did, they tended to be by themselves.

Marine iguana

Since this is the outer rim of an old caldera, there were a lot of interesting geological structures along the coastline near the water. 

One of several caves

Most of the depressions or caves had critters of one sort or another.  Upon closer examination of the cave in the picture above, we could see several sea lions.

A closer look of the little nook above reveals several sea lions.  Also note all of the Sally Lightfoot Crabs just above the water line.

Closeup of a Sally Lightfoot Crab -- almost the only brightly colored creature (at least above water) along the shore.

Most of the sea lions, like almost all the animals we saw on this adventure, were sleeping.  However we saw one sea lion climbing up the rocks.  He was surprisingly agile, walking right up the rocks on his flippers.  Apparently walking on their flippers is a trait of sea lions but not seals.  Seals can only move along on their bellies due to very small front flippers.  Sea lions are also different in how they swim.  They use their powerful front flippers to propel themselves through the water.  They are the only aquatic mammals to swim that way.

I was particularly intrigued by the sea lion's back flippers.  The individual digits were like fingers.  I don't know if he could bend them individually, but there seemed to be "knuckle joints" so he could at least partially bend them like we bend our fingers to close our hand.

Interesting "fingers" on his rear flippers

 Of course there were lots of blue footed boobies in many little nooks and crannies. 

Always fun to take more pictures of blue-footed boobies.

Blue-footed boobies looking very serious

We had seen most of the various critters before at previous stops during the week.  However, we did see some new things, including a jellyfish looking thing.  As best I can tell from iNaturalist, it is a type of sea star called a Red Sun Star.

Apparently a Red Sun Star along with some barnacles

Like everything in the Galapagos, the scale of things is deceptive in the pictures.  It was easier to realize how large the cave is in the picture below when I noticed the little dot in the center against the black background is the other panga.

Cave on the left.  Note the panga in the distance in the center

This particular cave was not very deep, but there was at least one sea lion asleep on the big rock in the middle.

The sea lion is on the right side of the rock in the center

Zonked out sea lion on his rock in the cave

Like so many of the caves, there were brown noddies on the ledges. 

A brown noddy upset about something

Where there was more space close to the water we saw a flightless cormorant drying his wings.

Flightless cormorant

Like most of the animals, he seemed very tired.  Somehow he kept his wings out while he put his head down across his back and closed his eyes.

A tired flightless cormorant

Even this brown pelican seemed tired, although some of his buddies were diving for fish.

Brown pelican

There was yet another blue-footed booby watching us as we headed for home.

A lone blue-footed booby

As we rounded the point, we could see the ship ahead.  It was only about 5:30, but being so near the equator sundown was 6-ish.  With the clouds it already was noticeably getting dark. 

La Pinta dead ahead

Despite the impending darkness, we made one last stop so the guide could take pictures before we returned. 

On our way back to the ship.  Although only 5:30, it was starting to get dark.  Notice the ship's deck lights are already on.

Hike to the rim above Darwin Lake.  While we were exploring the coast, Paul, Gwen, James and others were hiking to the rim above the small circular lake above the bay, Darwin Lake.  

Tagus Cove and Darwin Lake are on the topo map below.  The trail  is shown on the map as a dashed black line.  It starts at the water near the head of the bay.  Once reaching the rim of the lake, the trail proceeds around the lake on the east side,   It is 1.7 miles out and back with a 291 foot elevation gain.  (That probably includes the extension north from the rim.)  As mentioned earlier, there are roughly 150 steps up to the rim.

Topo map of Tagus Cove and Darwin Lake.  The trail is the dashed  black line on the east side of the lake.  The yellow line is our gps track.  Note we never actually entered the cove.

Landing here for the hike is a dry landing.  The trailhead is in the background of the picture below.

These are some of the folks on our cruise.  You can see the Darwin Lake Trail trailhead in the background.

Tagus Cove is an outstanding naturally sheltered cove that has been used by ships starting as early as the 1600's.  The first seamen to frequent the area were "pirates".

The era of the pirates.  I put pirates in quotes above because it may depend on your nationality how you feel about those sailors and their activities.  European ships, particularly the English, were after Spanish galleons loaded with gold and other valuables on their way back to Spain.  Sea captains with papers from the English monarch to legitimize their theft were privateers.  Those loyal to the Crown but without papers were buccaneers.   Those without any pretense of allegiance to the English Crown were pirates.  I am sure they were all pirates to the Spanish.

Whether they were privateers, buccaneers, or just plain pirates, the Galapagos Islands were a perfect spot from which to prey on Spanish shipping.  They were close enough to the mainland to be within striking distance of the ports and shipping lanes, far enough away, uninhabited and mostly uncharted so as to provide a great hiding spot.  The islands were also a source of fresh meat, although without dependable sources of fresh water the islands tended to be only a short term stopover.  The pirates definitely used sites in the Galapagos and it is almost certain one of the prime sites was Tagus Cove.

Graffiti.  Evidence of the early visits to Tagus Cove is the plentiful graffiti on the surrounding walls and cliffs of the names of visiting ships.  There are conflicting reports as to whether they go back as far as the period of the pirates (probably 1570 - 1820) .  Existing graffiti does go to at least 1836, the beginning of the time when visiting ships were more likely to be whalers. Some of it can be seen at the trailhead in a blowup of the picture above.

Graffiti at the trailhead in the background.

I was surprised to learn the graffiti even extended high up on the walls of the bay and included more recent ships, although it was all supposed to have stopped when Galapagos became a National Park in 1959.

View of the cliffs in Tagus Cove taken by a NOAA ship in 2018. NOAA Photo Library

Whenever it appeared, thinking about the graffiti makes me think of all the types of ships that have visited in the past.  Yes, even Charles Darwin himself climbed up here in 1835.  He was so excited to see the lake below that he scrambled down and started drinking.  Unfortunately it is very salty, probably filled by a tsunami after an earthquake or volcanic eruption on neighboring Fernandina Island.

Present day visitors.  Shown below are some of the more recent visitors to the spot.  As far as I know, none of them are pirates.

James above Darwin Lake with the La Pinta in the distance

Paul and Gwen also made it to the top

It looks like everyone had another great day.  As usual, we still had happy hour, a lecture, and another world class dinner to go.

We had a long way to go to reach tomorrow's destination.  The ship got underway about 9 pm for a full night of sailing, including two more crossings of the equator.