I am just back from Isla Isabela. It really was very beautiful. There is a small village with only dirt roads, a few houses, restaurants and hostels. After a two hour ride in a speedboat which was crammed full with 15 people, we arrived in Isla Isabela. We arrived late in the afternoon. After admiring the penguins that swam between the sea lions in the harbour, we rented surfboards and we went surfing for two hours. We spend two nights on the beach under a beautiful starry sky! Most of the penguins and sea lions swim about in the small harbour, so we decided to admire them by sitting in the shallow water. After one hour they came closer and closer. Just within arm’s reach! We also did have a swim with the sealions. The penguins are super fast and small! The water at Island Isabela seemed to be a bit colder but this was only because we had been sitting still in the water for way too long… Early this morning, at 6 AM, our boat was going back to the Island of Santa Cruz and so we went. The crossing [to the Marquesas Islands] is getting even closer and closer, and the more time I spend ashore, the more I feel like sailing the sea again. I am thinking of hoisting the anchor on Saturday or Sunday.

Laura