Got up at the crack of frigid dawn in Quito to catch a shuttle to the airport. I haven´t heard so much English as waiting in the domestic terminal with all the Galapagos flights. There is talk of limiting the number of people that can go - it makes sense especially since the big push is conservation. There is also talk of raising the $100 park fee - doubling it. If the Galapagos is on your destination list, sooner is probably a good idea.
We landed on the north side of the tiny dry island of Baltra. The cactus and lava are a sharp contrast to the blue water. The free shuttle takes you 15 minutes to the south end where you catch a 5 minute boat taxi across Canal de Itabaca to the island of Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz is the only island in the Galapagos with a road that connects the north to the south. We are picked up in a truck taxi and the first stop is Los Gemelos (literally "the twins"). This pair of pit craters were formed when lava collapsed into underlying magma chambers. A haven for bird watchers and high enough that the cloud mist is ever present - the two large craters are not the typical image of the Galapagos.
Next we stop at Primicias Ranch - which apparently has given up ranching to be a tourist destination for the Giant Tortoises roaming in their native habitat. We saw dozens of turtles and as we were watching patiently a male managed to win the affection (or more realistically - force the affection) of the much smaller female. Good thing his carapace is concave because they are going to stay like this for four hours!
We drop off our stuff at the "castle" (our hostel) and make our way to lunch. After soup, rice, noodles and three delicious filets of fish we decide to make our way to the Charles Darwin Research Station.
It is overcast, but warm- perfect really. The town is quaint with the mandatory restaurants and souvenor shops.
The Charles Darwin Research Station began as a tortoise repopulation program in 1965 and it is apparently running strong. They provide decent homes for the turtles and incubate their eggs in hopes of increasing the percentage of successful babies. After 4-6 years - when they are big enough- they are reintroduced to their home islands. There are many subspecies of turtles to manage...
Have you heard of Lonesome George? He was found in 1906 (I have to check on this) and his discovery was the last known of his specific supspecies of Pinta Island. The rumor is that there is a $10,000 reward if you find George a perfect Pinta partner. Until then he has been paired up with two other females of different subspecies, but has shown little interest. Recently one of the females did lay eggs, but no luck with hatching a baby turtle.
It´t been a full day. Sitting on a dock eating some ice cream I did spot my first blue-footed booby. Tomorrow is supposed to be a morning snorkeling trip... not sure if I´m ready for that!
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