May 25th - Isabela
May 25th - Puerto Villamil, Sierra Negra Volcano, Tortoise breeding centre
After breakfast aboard the TipTop IV at our mooring off the busy port of Villamil [view near the centre, above] we headed ashore in the pangas to pick up our transport that would take us into the interior and eventually up to the rim of Sierra Negra volcano. The rickety truck with bench seats in the back we affectionally christened the transport "Device"! Once clear of the town we passed through agricultural areas and stopped at a likely spot and were soon getting good views of the local race of Vermillion Flycatcher, and also excellent views of a Galapagos Flycatcher. Eventually we arrived at the car park at the trail head up to the volcano rim. An excellent first find in the car park was a showy Woodpecker Finch with its long conical bill. We were hoping to find the elusive Galapagos Rail, a tiny black rail which can be found in all sorts of habitat, and not necessarily by water. A reputedly good spot was in the thick grassy areas around the car park, but unfortunately there has been a lot of strimming going on and we failed to tempt one out into the open. We walked up the trail through lush vegetation until we arrived at the rim of the Sierra Negra volcano, the rim itself being heavily vegetated. The view down into the mass of black solidified magma in the caldera was very impressive - impressive that is, until a low mist drifted in shortly after our arrival and more or less blocked the view! The caldera here is oval in shape and measures 9 km by 10 km across! We had a few more tries at tempting out Galapagos Rail here, to no avail, despite having met another guide who had had a brief view farther along the trail. We made our way back down to the car park, through what was now quite thick mist.
After breakfast aboard the TipTop IV at our mooring off the busy port of Villamil [view near the centre, above] we headed ashore in the pangas to pick up our transport that would take us into the interior and eventually up to the rim of Sierra Negra volcano. The rickety truck with bench seats in the back we affectionally christened the transport "Device"! Once clear of the town we passed through agricultural areas and stopped at a likely spot and were soon getting good views of the local race of Vermillion Flycatcher, and also excellent views of a Galapagos Flycatcher. Eventually we arrived at the car park at the trail head up to the volcano rim. An excellent first find in the car park was a showy Woodpecker Finch with its long conical bill. We were hoping to find the elusive Galapagos Rail, a tiny black rail which can be found in all sorts of habitat, and not necessarily by water. A reputedly good spot was in the thick grassy areas around the car park, but unfortunately there has been a lot of strimming going on and we failed to tempt one out into the open. We walked up the trail through lush vegetation until we arrived at the rim of the Sierra Negra volcano, the rim itself being heavily vegetated. The view down into the mass of black solidified magma in the caldera was very impressive - impressive that is, until a low mist drifted in shortly after our arrival and more or less blocked the view! The caldera here is oval in shape and measures 9 km by 10 km across! We had a few more tries at tempting out Galapagos Rail here, to no avail, despite having met another guide who had had a brief view farther along the trail. We made our way back down to the car park, through what was now quite thick mist.
As we descended from the highlands we found ourselves below the mist, and in quite high temperatures. We then made our way farther back towards Villamil where we stopped to overlook a small lagoon where we found some American Flamingoes, and a nice find of a Pied-billed Grebe - a 'three star' bird on the checklist - i.e. rarely seen.
The next port of call was a tortoise breeding centre. Due to various introduced pests, including three species of ant, and rats, tortoises are in trouble in the wild and many have been brought into semi-wild sanctuaries to protect them. There is an ongoing 'Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative', the aim of which is to try and restore the various species to viable populations. There is some interesting information on this, on the Galapagos Conservancy web site here. We had an interesting walk around this centre with one of the staff, who explained what they were doing. Some of us then took the option of walking back to the centre of Villamil town to rendezvous with the "Device" which would take us back to the port. Although it was very hot, it was worth the effort. The walk went through a shrubby area and then along a boardwalk past some shallow pools, where we had views of another flycatcher, Common Gallinule, some very showy American Flamingoes, White-cheeked Pintails, and a few Black-necked Stilts. I also attempted to photograph a couple of dragonflies, of which there are only 8 species, including one endemic. We were eventually picked up by the "Device" and taken back to the port, which is some way from the main town, where we boarded the pangas and headed back to the boat for another excellent dinner.
The next port of call was a tortoise breeding centre. Due to various introduced pests, including three species of ant, and rats, tortoises are in trouble in the wild and many have been brought into semi-wild sanctuaries to protect them. There is an ongoing 'Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative', the aim of which is to try and restore the various species to viable populations. There is some interesting information on this, on the Galapagos Conservancy web site here. We had an interesting walk around this centre with one of the staff, who explained what they were doing. Some of us then took the option of walking back to the centre of Villamil town to rendezvous with the "Device" which would take us back to the port. Although it was very hot, it was worth the effort. The walk went through a shrubby area and then along a boardwalk past some shallow pools, where we had views of another flycatcher, Common Gallinule, some very showy American Flamingoes, White-cheeked Pintails, and a few Black-necked Stilts. I also attempted to photograph a couple of dragonflies, of which there are only 8 species, including one endemic. We were eventually picked up by the "Device" and taken back to the port, which is some way from the main town, where we boarded the pangas and headed back to the boat for another excellent dinner.