We knew that our hotel on Isabela, Iguana Crossing, was within walking distance of town and had an amazing beach view. When we got there we discovered that it is also adjacent to a Flamingo Lagoon. When I think of the famous birds and wildlife of the Galapagos, flamingos aren’t the first things that pop into my mind. But I was excited to learn that they live on the islands and that we would have the chance to see them right in our own backyard. (We had opted out of doing this with our tour guide as part of the Wall of Tears tour because the boys were tired and we knew we could do it on our own another day.)
Just past the hotel, there is a boardwalk that leads over a brackish lagoon behind the hotel and to a trail through the mangrove. Following the trail will take you to another lagoon with wading flamingos. If you go even further along the trail, you will eventually get to a tortoise breeding center. But before you get started, you have to pass the boardwalks’ guards…
Some of the marine iguana guards stood their ground and others scurried off to the side as we slowly crept past. The boardwalk was pretty rickety and I was definitely worried that one of us would put a foot through a board. We cautiously made our way across the boardwalk, watching the ducks, gallinules, and stilts in the reddish brown lagoon.
But those birds were just an introduction. The main attraction was still ahead. After crossing the boardwalk, we came to a dirt trail which led us under a canopy of trees and into the mangrove. Signs warned us against eating the apples that grew on the manchineel trees surrounding us. The manchineel tree is one of the most toxic in the world. Its milky sap is highly irritating to the skin, so much so that if you stand under one in the rain, if any of the drops that fall off the tree land on you, it will cause your skin to blister. And its fruit is highly poisonous, hence the nickname manzanilla de la muerte or “little apples of death”.
We continued along the trail in the mangrove until we came upon a sign for Poza Baltazar and a boardwalk that followed the edge of a second lagoon… this one with flamingos!
The lagoon was large, the mangrove trees along its edge thick, and the flamingos far away. But the whole scene was enchanting. With no other people in sight, we stood in silence soaking it all in. Flamingos in the wild! Somehow these always seemed like birds that only exist in zoos, but here we were seeing them in their native habitat. It was amazing.
And flamingos swim! I honestly had no idea. I’ve only ever seen them wading in the water (at zoos of course), dipping their head down to eat or balancing on one leg. But we watched in amazement as they glided silently and gracefully across the water like pink swans, occasionally dipping their heads in the water to hunt for crustaceans. Fascinating fact… whether standing or swimming, flamingos can only eat with their head upside down!
The boys wanted to stay and watch the flamingos but I couldn’t leave the rest of the trail unexplored. I went ahead to see if it led to any other bodies of water where flamingos might be hanging out but just as quickly as the trail went into the mangrove it came back out and into a more desert-like landscape. I kept walking until I came to a clearing and was surprised to find some park rangers sitting in a tent. They jumped up to greet me and tell me all about the tortoise reserve and asked if I wanted to take a tour. Since I had left the rest of the family behind, I didn’t think I should disappear on a tour with no way of telling them where I was. I wish I could have gone back another day but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards for this trip.
So I headed back and rejoined my flamingo-watching family. One flamingo teased us by swimming really close to the boardwalk but somehow managed to stay mostly obscured by the trees. We didn’t get a ton of good pictures but I’m certain the images of these graceful birds will be seared in all of our memories forever. It was such a surprisingly amazing experience.
The Flamingo Lagoon is an easy and free (!) activity on Isabela. We spent about an hour there and that included quite a bit of observation time. If you can combine it with a visit to the Arnoldo Tupiza Giant Tortoise Breeding Center at the end of the trail, that looks to be worth a stop too. But definitely set aside an hour to experience the wonders of the Galapagos Flamingo. This easy outing was an unexpected bonus and one of the (many) highlights of our Galapagos trip.
