GROWING UP GALAPAGOS children’s book for Celebrity Cruises. Darwin’s Lake

Darwin’s Lake, title page.

Isabela Island, Tagus Cove, Darwin’s Lake.

Isabela Island is the largest of all the islands, and greater in size than all of the other Galapagos Islands combined. Tagus Cove located on the northwestern side of the Isabela Island was once a sheltered anchorage for pirates, buccaneers and whalers. The name Tagus comes from an English war ship that passed by the islands in 1814 looking for giant tortoises. Charles Darwin, who wrote the On the Origin of Species, visited Tagus Cove in 1835.

A short, steep hike from the Tagus Cove presents a specular view point of Darwin’s Lake. The lake appears like as a volcano crater filled with dark water, but is geologically called a tuff cone. It is approximately 30 ft or 9 m deep and filled with salt water. Surrounded hills are a forest of Palo Santo Trees, Bursera gravelens, that quickly change to dead looking branches during the dry season in this arid zone.

After a short and heavy rain, flowers bloom and birds sing as Darwin’s lake appears like a lush garden adjacent to the Giant Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia echios var.inermis. Occasional land iguana or giant tortoise can be observed climbing the rugged trails.

The Galapagos Cotton, Gossypium barbadense var, darwinii, a shrub, blooms with the largest flower on any native or endemic plant in Galapagos. It’s busting seed provided “cotton” used by ground and tree finches and other small birds to use in their nest.

The Acacia tree, with intimidating thorns, is the nesting sites for the Galapagos Mockingbird, Mimus paruvlus. This nest may serve to incubate another clutch if heavy rains continue. Mockingbirds are a very social species and often stay together as a growing and flourishing family.

A zodiac ride along the cove’s steep lava cliffs may give another encounter;  Flightless Cormorants or a family of nesting penguins.