Charles Darwin’s birthday! Galapagos Day!
The buses took us to the Galapagos National Park at the far end of town (about 1 mile away) and we walked to the installations of the “Fausto Llerena Tortoise Breeding Center”. This is a key program for the restoration of the Galapagos Islands and to restore the populations of giant tortoises to a level that can be considered self-sustaining. Taking into consideration they do not reach reproductive age until around 20 years old – this is a long-term program, as you can imagine! But the true advantage we have of visiting this particular breeding center on the island of Santa Cruz, is that they have tortoises we thought previously extinct! Yes, extinct! Thanks to DNA analysis two populations that were thought gone forever from the islands of Floreana and Pinta, are now alive and breeding. Perhaps not pure-breed individual, but there is still the chance of finding pure-breeds out in the wild. No one is giving up hope now!
The walk back through town is always an experience. There were marine iguana females digging their nests by the sidewalks into the park, bicycles whizzing by, cars going to and fro, sea lions…sea lions? Every morning the fishermen bring their catch to an area off the main waterfront road where all the residents come to buy fresh fish. The crowd also includes sea lions, frigate-birds, brown pelicans and lava gulls (the last four species don’t pay). In fact, the sea lions play an important role here as they function as garbage disposals for fish heads, tails and skin.
By late morning we were headed up into the cooler highlands, escaping the high humidity that sits heavily over Puerto Ayora at this time of year. A stop at a local farm gave us a chance to sample the products from the sugar cane processor: brown sugar, molasses and a bit of “hooch”. The coffee they produce is excellent and perked up the group as we continued onto lunch. Two beautiful barn owls perched tightly together in the rafters, seemingly oblivious to the movement, voices and action below them.
Traveling higher, the air was even fresher during lunch at our highland restaurant “Narwhal”. A light rain fell at dessert-time. Hooray! From there we drove around to the western side of the volcano of Santa Cruz to see if we could find tortoises wandering in the wild of the highlands. We were successful, as the biggest-of-the-big male tortoises often stay in the cloudy highlands as that is where the food is most abundant. Santa Cruz volcano has the ideal angle of repose for the formation of lava tubes, not too steep, and not too flat. One tube near the tortoise area gave us access down into the depths for about a hundred yards – enough to get the sense of how tubes are formed.
We were back in town by late afternoon and back on board for showers and a change before dinner. The video chronicler, Marc, showed a sneak preview of his final production. Despite the long day most folks joined in afterward to enjoy the talented musicians and dancers we had invited on board. Not only is this group exceptionally gifted with musical instruments, but in dance and art – for the dresses displayed were quite amazing works of art in their own right.
What a day!
