by Day 5 Sunday 2nd Dec
This morning the whole boat disembarked at Baltra Island and headed for the airport. We were losing 13 of the 20 passengers on board as they had finished their trip. The 5 of us were left, plus a Swedish couple living in Uruguay and we were to be joined by one other passenger. The whole boat for only 8!
From the airport we got a bus to the canal where we had a short ferry ride to Santa Cruz Island and we headed to the highlands to see the giant tortoise in the wild. There are 3000 on this Island and the children managed to count- with the bus driver- 64!
They can weigh between 250-300kg and live for 150-200 years.
From there we headed to The Charles Darwin Research Station. Here there are giant tortoises of the species found in Santa Cruz, Santiago, Española, Pinzón and Pinta islands as part of a breeding program to repopulate areas that have been affected either by introduced species or human impact. This station is home to ‘super Diego’ father to 1700 tortoises!
When then had a couple of hours in the town of Puerto Ayora. The largest town in the Galápagos with a population of about 3000.
Day 6 Monday 3rd December.
We woke at Cormorant point on Floreana Island. Cormorant Point features a greenish beach rich in olivine, which is a collection of volcanic crystals composed of aluminium, silica, magnesium and iron.
Not far inland is a brackish pond which is supposedly ideal for flamingo watching. Today there were none.
The trail continued to a beautiful white sand beach, one of the most important nesting sites of the Green Pacific Turtle. There can also be stingrays hiding in the sand.
Before lunch we snorkelled at Champion Islet just offshore. The fish were amazing!
Then it was off to Post Office Bay. This is nothing but a barrel that has served as a drop off and pick up point since the early days of whale hunters. The letters are left, bearing their respective addresses, in the hope that another seamen returning home would take some of them if the address was not far from his home and would either deliver them by hand or drop them in the normal post once at home.
Hi Nat, Simon and Gang,
Well I hate to tell you but this is the first chance I have had to log on and wow, you are doing such a great job blogging and seeing some amazing things. Abby wants Belle to know she has the same shirt as her. Also love all the photos and it is so nice to see you having a great time. I’m sure when Jeff sees this we will be booking our trip to the Galapagos. Looks incredible. Highlights: Abby’s comment about the dog bags, the cactus with a Rudolph nose, Was Simon carrying one of those turtles, the kids in the turtle shell – I’d be worried they’d get stuck. We miss you guys so much and can’t wait to see you on return but in the mean time, keep blogging!!! PS I have now signed on for notification when you blog so won’t miss any. xxxxx00000
Lovely to have you! The Galápagos is definitely somewhere to have on your bucket list. Never seen anything like it.
Lx Nat
P.S. I am missing my runs!!!
We have sent a postcard to ourselves as well. See how long it takes!!