After our penguin sighting of yesterday morning, we figured we were ready for more exploring. We set off on long walk (okay, it only felt long due to the heat but in reality, we think it was about 5 kms roundtrip) to go to the Centro de Crianza, the Tortoise Breeding Center here on Isabela. There is a wonderful boardwalk that winds past a few pozos (new Spanish word - pools) and through the arid landscape (Ron had read somewhere that not a few people have wandered away, and have gotten lost. They then ended up dead.) This place is covered in hardened lava flows, and the island has no natural water sources, other than what falls during the rainy season. So it was a surprise that we saw these pools and came across the most beautiful coral coloured flamingos.
Another 10 minutes later, and we came to the breeding center. Suffice it to say that we think there is no danger of extinction of the 5 species of Galapagos Tortoises. We must have seen several hundred (maybe more), in all ages, which according to the literature all came from 4 sets of breeding adults. Looked pretty prolific to us.
Back to the beach where we stumbled, almost literally, across another 25,000 +/- marine iguanas, also in various shapes and sizes. There were some big papas roaming around, keeping an eye on the myriad offspring. They were all piled up, and didn't seem to care who's shoulders they stepped on on their way to the top of the heap. Sounds like most of the western world - we have not evolved very far from the our ancestors, the iguanas.
This is the high season here, and although everyone around the world knows about the Galapagos Islands, this place was empty. Not a soul around, which suits us perfectly, but it seems crazy that as well known as these islands are, so far we've seen only 4 boats here in the three days since arrival, with a total of perhaps 40 people. We'd read that the authorities, by the number of flights they allow to land on Baltra and Cristobal can control the number of visitors, and we frankly feel the numbers are just right. We haven't been to the most populated island, Santa Cruz, but as the vast majority of the boats depart from there, we figure it is probably the most lively. For us here, this Darwinian peace is perfect.
We have some hysterical pictures of the wildlife - unfortunately, until we get our internet signal sorted, you'll have to settle for these words.....or start your travel plans, and come out here to see it all for yourself.
Total costs so far, other than our initial $1085 Autografo, (not per person)
San Cristobal (arrived 1/1/15, departed 1/16/15)
Tour to Leon Dormido - $84
Taxi tour of the island - $30
Various fruits/vegies - ~$100
Top up of 17 gallons diesel - $54
Departure Zarpe - $15
Water taxi during stay - ~$30
One dinner out - $30
Various beers/water - ~$20
Total - ~$363
Showing posts with label San Cristobal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Cristobal. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
Sometimes days are boring....
...and other times, not so much.
We let go of our mooring ball in Baquerizo 2 mornings ago, with a brisk 15 knot wind blowing. Perfect direction, perfect speed, everything was perfect EXCEPT for the fact that it was Friday. In the book of Sailors' Superstitions, ranking close to #1 is to never set off on a passage on a Friday. We were planning to put this to test.
Within an hour, we were blazing along at a respectable 6.5 knots, a speed which was unheard of heading south along the Pacific coast, and one that we averaged until the wind stopped altogether, around 1:30am. Our trip from Isla San Cristobal to Isla Isabela was approximately 95 miles from start to finish, so we were hoping to arrive just at daybreak the following morning. With dead air, we of course turned to the trusty engine in order to push us onwards. It was also a crew change, and I gratefully headed down below, but sleep was tough due to the fact that there seemed to be an unknown rumble coming from underneath the bed. The Captain didn't want to acknowledge it directly, but 15 minutes later, I heard the engine get turned off, and a summons to come topsides. Seems the engine was getting a bit hot, and Ron determined that a new impeller was needed in the water pump. Nothing like doing emergency repairs while underway, in the middle of the night. We might have just waited but we were only 5 miles off Isla Tortuga, a crescent-shaped island that is the mostly submerged top of a volcano. It's pretty cool, but we didn't want to get any closer, hence the repair.
An hour later we were underway again, and with no wind whatsoever, we slowly made our way into the reef and rock strewn port at Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela.
Now this is what I always envisioned the Galapagos to be. Its much quieter and a quick wander through town showed dirt streets, and everyone on bicycles. We had heard that the islands in the west were quieter and less developed, and we've seen for ourselves that this is true.
We had been having head problems. Not too bad, just seemed like the hoses were a bit clogged as the "outgo" wasn't quite keeping up with the inflow. Another boat project....which I announced yesterday that I was tackling. I believe I saw Ron rolling his eyes in disbelief. Now in cruiser's parlance, there seems to be Blue jobs, and Pink jobs. Pink jobs are usually galley related, and keeping clothes, dishes, and boat generally clean. Blue jobs are....pretty much everything else. Ron is a bit squeamish with anything poo related, and as a woman, I certainly have my fair share of "gross" to deal with and while I wouldn't say that its my favourite job, its easier for me to do. Several hours later, with a gallon or two of sweat dispensed, I announced that the job was done, with nary a leak to be found. 3 hoses, a vent and a y-valve, clean as a whistle. Which also meant that the cleanup also included the entire bathroom - BONUS.
For the first time in a year or so, this morning I saw the sunrise. Early mornings aren't my strong suit, but the boat was bumping up against the mooring ball, and around 5:30am we were up. Not only did we see the sun come up, but we also saw our first penguins swimming around the boat. Who knew they were so fast?! Another tick in our "what did we see in Galapagos?" book.
When we find an internet signal, I'll post some photos, but for now this update is being brought to you via single sideband
Aside from the flies (of which there seem to be an unending supply of), we like it here!
We let go of our mooring ball in Baquerizo 2 mornings ago, with a brisk 15 knot wind blowing. Perfect direction, perfect speed, everything was perfect EXCEPT for the fact that it was Friday. In the book of Sailors' Superstitions, ranking close to #1 is to never set off on a passage on a Friday. We were planning to put this to test.
Within an hour, we were blazing along at a respectable 6.5 knots, a speed which was unheard of heading south along the Pacific coast, and one that we averaged until the wind stopped altogether, around 1:30am. Our trip from Isla San Cristobal to Isla Isabela was approximately 95 miles from start to finish, so we were hoping to arrive just at daybreak the following morning. With dead air, we of course turned to the trusty engine in order to push us onwards. It was also a crew change, and I gratefully headed down below, but sleep was tough due to the fact that there seemed to be an unknown rumble coming from underneath the bed. The Captain didn't want to acknowledge it directly, but 15 minutes later, I heard the engine get turned off, and a summons to come topsides. Seems the engine was getting a bit hot, and Ron determined that a new impeller was needed in the water pump. Nothing like doing emergency repairs while underway, in the middle of the night. We might have just waited but we were only 5 miles off Isla Tortuga, a crescent-shaped island that is the mostly submerged top of a volcano. It's pretty cool, but we didn't want to get any closer, hence the repair.
An hour later we were underway again, and with no wind whatsoever, we slowly made our way into the reef and rock strewn port at Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela.
Now this is what I always envisioned the Galapagos to be. Its much quieter and a quick wander through town showed dirt streets, and everyone on bicycles. We had heard that the islands in the west were quieter and less developed, and we've seen for ourselves that this is true.
We had been having head problems. Not too bad, just seemed like the hoses were a bit clogged as the "outgo" wasn't quite keeping up with the inflow. Another boat project....which I announced yesterday that I was tackling. I believe I saw Ron rolling his eyes in disbelief. Now in cruiser's parlance, there seems to be Blue jobs, and Pink jobs. Pink jobs are usually galley related, and keeping clothes, dishes, and boat generally clean. Blue jobs are....pretty much everything else. Ron is a bit squeamish with anything poo related, and as a woman, I certainly have my fair share of "gross" to deal with and while I wouldn't say that its my favourite job, its easier for me to do. Several hours later, with a gallon or two of sweat dispensed, I announced that the job was done, with nary a leak to be found. 3 hoses, a vent and a y-valve, clean as a whistle. Which also meant that the cleanup also included the entire bathroom - BONUS.
For the first time in a year or so, this morning I saw the sunrise. Early mornings aren't my strong suit, but the boat was bumping up against the mooring ball, and around 5:30am we were up. Not only did we see the sun come up, but we also saw our first penguins swimming around the boat. Who knew they were so fast?! Another tick in our "what did we see in Galapagos?" book.
When we find an internet signal, I'll post some photos, but for now this update is being brought to you via single sideband
Aside from the flies (of which there seem to be an unending supply of), we like it here!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Again....provisioning!!!
We're on the move again. Decision has been made.....Thursday we will drop our lines from the mooring ball, and head over to Isla Isabela, the second-most western island here in the Galapagos, and the largest one in the chain. As far as where we can go, this island will be the most remote, so yesterday we topped up a few things we had used up since the we left Bahia on December 27th.
1) Diesel - We emptied 3 of our 5-gallon jugs into the tanks, and took these to town. We thought we'd try to be sneaky and see if we could wrangle diesel for the local price, rather than the extranjero rate. We told our taxi driver that if he'd buy the fuel at his $1.02/gallon rate for us, we'd give him a kickback of $10. We think we're so clever....the authorities are sooooo onto us. We first had to head to the Port Captain to get a paper authorizing us in fact, to buy the diesel. With paper in hand, we hightailed it to the station, made our deal with our driver, and attempted the impossible. Nope, as we didn't have our passports with us, there was some consternation, but a quick call to the Port Captain assured them we were "authorized" to purchase the fuel. As far as a deal.....that wasn't going to happen. We think it might have been possible if we were trying to buy gasoline, but the diesel identified us as "furreners". I was relieved however, as we only had to pay $3.23/gallon, unlike our friends down in Salinas, that had to fork over close to $6 for their international status. While in Bahia, we had filled our tanks 10 gallons at a time, as the gas station guy didn't mind charging us the $1/gallon rate for a small amount, even tho it's supposedly illegal to do so. But....filling our 200 gallon tanks, for $200, rather than $1000....we were willing to try any sort of finagling. Here, not so much. When we initially arrived, we had to let them know that we might be wanting to buy a bit of fuel, so we were on record requesting a few gallons. Although we had told them 15, we were able to get the guy to put in a bit more (paying more, of course) but we got 17 gallons instead. Where we are going, every bit for the future will help.
2) The inevitable booze top up was required, as well. In two weeks, I had gone through 3 boxes of wine, so those needed to be replaced, while I could. Ron had managed to also go through a few beers, so 48 bottles were bought, along with a $10.70 bottle of rum. The Ron Abuelo was $18, so we'll see if the $10 will only be good for stripping varnish.
3) Vegies - most of our fresh stuff was gone. I still had onions, potatoes, a carrot, and a rather dubious bunch of celery. We topped up the potatoes, got a few green apples, some bell peppers, and a bag of 20 WICKED hot yellow peppers (I'm not sure what those'll go into but getting anything spicy in Ecuador is a challenge (impossible to even buy Chili Powder in the major supermarkets), so I always jump when I see anything picante. We managed to get a very green pineapple for the future, and 10 tomatoes, that are absolutely beautiful (unfortunately, they have no flavour whatsoever). Added to this was another 5 pounds of potatoes, and a handful of limes. I think the bill came to around $30. Can't give an exact number, as we were buying from 3 different venders all at the same time, and money was getting handed to many people.
4) Eggs - Despite the risk of cholesterol overload that the media warns us of, eggs continue to be an important part of our diet. I try to keep it at a dozen per week for the both of us, which includes baking, but sometimes an egg is just too easy to grab to make a hot sandwich, or to scramble into a breakfast burrito. I had saved our empty cartons, so we took these along to the mercado and topped up with an additional 5 dozen. We aren't too sure what we'll find over at Isabela - better to be safe than sorry.
5) Coffee - If you've been reading this blog, you know that we have a bit of an obsession with coffee. We thought a nice souvenir to take away from the Galapagos Islands would be some of the home grown stuff, a little bit like buying Blue Mountain Coffee when you are in Jamaica. We had been waiting to go back to the little man we had talked with last week while he was raking the beans on the concrete, drying them out. (that's a bad sentence...but you get my drift). He ushered us into his storefront (see the little door below, on the right?), and we proceeded to make a deal. $5/pound....not bad!
Bolivar has been notified that we are on our way....now we just need to store the bikes, buy a souvenir t-shirt or two, and get underway.
1) Diesel - We emptied 3 of our 5-gallon jugs into the tanks, and took these to town. We thought we'd try to be sneaky and see if we could wrangle diesel for the local price, rather than the extranjero rate. We told our taxi driver that if he'd buy the fuel at his $1.02/gallon rate for us, we'd give him a kickback of $10. We think we're so clever....the authorities are sooooo onto us. We first had to head to the Port Captain to get a paper authorizing us in fact, to buy the diesel. With paper in hand, we hightailed it to the station, made our deal with our driver, and attempted the impossible. Nope, as we didn't have our passports with us, there was some consternation, but a quick call to the Port Captain assured them we were "authorized" to purchase the fuel. As far as a deal.....that wasn't going to happen. We think it might have been possible if we were trying to buy gasoline, but the diesel identified us as "furreners". I was relieved however, as we only had to pay $3.23/gallon, unlike our friends down in Salinas, that had to fork over close to $6 for their international status. While in Bahia, we had filled our tanks 10 gallons at a time, as the gas station guy didn't mind charging us the $1/gallon rate for a small amount, even tho it's supposedly illegal to do so. But....filling our 200 gallon tanks, for $200, rather than $1000....we were willing to try any sort of finagling. Here, not so much. When we initially arrived, we had to let them know that we might be wanting to buy a bit of fuel, so we were on record requesting a few gallons. Although we had told them 15, we were able to get the guy to put in a bit more (paying more, of course) but we got 17 gallons instead. Where we are going, every bit for the future will help.
2) The inevitable booze top up was required, as well. In two weeks, I had gone through 3 boxes of wine, so those needed to be replaced, while I could. Ron had managed to also go through a few beers, so 48 bottles were bought, along with a $10.70 bottle of rum. The Ron Abuelo was $18, so we'll see if the $10 will only be good for stripping varnish.
3) Vegies - most of our fresh stuff was gone. I still had onions, potatoes, a carrot, and a rather dubious bunch of celery. We topped up the potatoes, got a few green apples, some bell peppers, and a bag of 20 WICKED hot yellow peppers (I'm not sure what those'll go into but getting anything spicy in Ecuador is a challenge (impossible to even buy Chili Powder in the major supermarkets), so I always jump when I see anything picante. We managed to get a very green pineapple for the future, and 10 tomatoes, that are absolutely beautiful (unfortunately, they have no flavour whatsoever). Added to this was another 5 pounds of potatoes, and a handful of limes. I think the bill came to around $30. Can't give an exact number, as we were buying from 3 different venders all at the same time, and money was getting handed to many people.
4) Eggs - Despite the risk of cholesterol overload that the media warns us of, eggs continue to be an important part of our diet. I try to keep it at a dozen per week for the both of us, which includes baking, but sometimes an egg is just too easy to grab to make a hot sandwich, or to scramble into a breakfast burrito. I had saved our empty cartons, so we took these along to the mercado and topped up with an additional 5 dozen. We aren't too sure what we'll find over at Isabela - better to be safe than sorry.
5) Coffee - If you've been reading this blog, you know that we have a bit of an obsession with coffee. We thought a nice souvenir to take away from the Galapagos Islands would be some of the home grown stuff, a little bit like buying Blue Mountain Coffee when you are in Jamaica. We had been waiting to go back to the little man we had talked with last week while he was raking the beans on the concrete, drying them out. (that's a bad sentence...but you get my drift). He ushered us into his storefront (see the little door below, on the right?), and we proceeded to make a deal. $5/pound....not bad!
 |
| Professional drying facilities |
 |
| Fancy Storefront - Organic, no less! |
 |
| Let's see....how many pounds do we want? |
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| Twigs we get thrown in, no charge |
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| All 6 pounds, bagged up and ready for roasting |
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Snorkeling Highlight of our Lives (to date)
We think we've figured out how to stay here in the Galapagos, see what we need/want to see, and not break the bank. Bolivar is the MAN!!! We've now taken his advice on the second tour of the island, and this one was definitely worth the price of admission.
In his own words, Bolivar is our agent and believes that his job is fix our problems, and in general make our life while here on Cristobal as perfect as it can be. He always offers to take our trash to town, he's fixed our fumigation paperwork, and he has ensured that the Park officials are happy with the state of the boat. The latest in his recommendations was a "buddy" of his, who has a boat for touring the islands, and for fishing. Along with our gang of six, Bolivar showed up with a 3-pak of Ecuadorians and we were away for a day of fishing, snorkeling, and beaching.
Bolivar and his captain friend were keen to do a bit of fishing along the way, so at various times they threw their hooks out. With the exception of a "bambini" barracuda, they were thwarted in catching everyone a bit of yellowfin for a sushi dinner. However....
The day started out by heading directly away from Cristobal, past the only two sailboats in the harbour, and out to a rock that all of us sailors had seen coming into port.
Due to an entire flock of petrels showing the way, the guys were hoping for a few strikes here but it was not to be.
This island, called Leon Dormido was our destination. The Sleeping Lion didn't look too much like its namesake, but the gap was the site for our snorkeling adventure. It's known for hammerheads and other types of sharks, which we all hoped to see, sort of.
As I mentioned, Bolivar is a good man to know. We had wandered through town upon our arrival, inquiring at various tour agencies about a trip out to Leon Dormido, and had gotten quotes in the range of $75-100 per person. We had our own snorkeling gear and wetsuits, we didn't need a picnic lunch, and we had Bolivar - the cost was $84 for the both of us for this 6 hour excursion.
It looks like we'll be moving on in the next day or two. We've decided, after much discussion to bypass Santa Cruz. Although this is the place that has the most tours, and supposedly is a very lively town, we've also heard that the anchorage is crap, being quite rolly. There are moorings, but friends on Aros Mear, after a very uncomfortable night, decided that anchoring was better. As the anchoring area is very small and tight, a stern anchor is needed to keep your boat from swinging into other close-by neighbors. We don't really like tight, and we're not here to be a part of a lot of tourists, so we'll just head over to the westernmost island, Isabela. Plans today include replenishing provisions we've used up in the last 3 weeks since leaving Bahia, as well as to top off the 15 gallons of diesel we've used up so far.
Until next time....
In his own words, Bolivar is our agent and believes that his job is fix our problems, and in general make our life while here on Cristobal as perfect as it can be. He always offers to take our trash to town, he's fixed our fumigation paperwork, and he has ensured that the Park officials are happy with the state of the boat. The latest in his recommendations was a "buddy" of his, who has a boat for touring the islands, and for fishing. Along with our gang of six, Bolivar showed up with a 3-pak of Ecuadorians and we were away for a day of fishing, snorkeling, and beaching.
 |
| The ONLY man to know in town! |
The day started out by heading directly away from Cristobal, past the only two sailboats in the harbour, and out to a rock that all of us sailors had seen coming into port.
 | |
| No photoshopped colour - Sundancer and Mar de Luz |
 | |
| The Rock - A Baby Island with it's own light |
This island, called Leon Dormido was our destination. The Sleeping Lion didn't look too much like its namesake, but the gap was the site for our snorkeling adventure. It's known for hammerheads and other types of sharks, which we all hoped to see, sort of.
 | ||
| Leon Dormido |
We saw what we came to see. It was truly like being in the middle of a Galapagos documentary. The rays of the sun shining down through to the depths, the deep blue colour, the vertical walls of the rocks plunging to the sea floor, and a layering of marine life; the six of us snorkeling at the surface, the marine turtles lazily swimming just below, second floor down were the spotted rays, which looked to be about 4-5 feet in diameter, and then the sharks. All those sharks! None of knew how many there were, but suffice it to say that there were "enough". Slowly patrolling the channel, these guardians were obviously well fed, as the countless schools of fish, the turtles, us....they just didn't seem too interested in any of it. For which we are grateful!
Ron was able to take some pretty amazing footage on our GoPro, which due to slow internet upload speeds here, you can find via this link on YouTube, if you are interested.
Consider our minds blown, and despite what friends have said about the sea life we will be seeing in the upcoming months, we wonder if anything will ever be able to top this.
Another stop, but this time at a deserted island, complete with lots of interesting plant growth patterns. At first, when I saw them on the beach, I was sure it must have been someone's handiwork, but further into the mangroves, we came upon this under the water.
As I mentioned, Bolivar is a good man to know. We had wandered through town upon our arrival, inquiring at various tour agencies about a trip out to Leon Dormido, and had gotten quotes in the range of $75-100 per person. We had our own snorkeling gear and wetsuits, we didn't need a picnic lunch, and we had Bolivar - the cost was $84 for the both of us for this 6 hour excursion.
It looks like we'll be moving on in the next day or two. We've decided, after much discussion to bypass Santa Cruz. Although this is the place that has the most tours, and supposedly is a very lively town, we've also heard that the anchorage is crap, being quite rolly. There are moorings, but friends on Aros Mear, after a very uncomfortable night, decided that anchoring was better. As the anchoring area is very small and tight, a stern anchor is needed to keep your boat from swinging into other close-by neighbors. We don't really like tight, and we're not here to be a part of a lot of tourists, so we'll just head over to the westernmost island, Isabela. Plans today include replenishing provisions we've used up in the last 3 weeks since leaving Bahia, as well as to top off the 15 gallons of diesel we've used up so far.
Until next time....
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Living in a natural zoo
The common perception, which is a MISperception, is that although you've paid the money to be here in the Galapagos, this is only the start of the bloodletting. Many websites and blogs that we had read, informed us that if we wanted to see anything, not only did we have to have the $100 park pass in hand, but we also had to pay for an "official" guide, which of course, would eat up some more pennies. We've paid the big bucks already to be here, so we're scouting out what we can do without having to pay additionally.
Our walks to the various snorkeling spots had paid off in the form of new marine life spotted, but we were now ready to spread our wings abit and see the rest of the island. Yesterday, along with another boat that had joined us having also recently arrived from the mainland, and another random traveling couple, we piled into a taxi truck to head north to the La Galapaguera, which was a breeding and protectionist habitat of those wily Galapagos Tortoises. The money saved was in the form of not going via a tour agency in town, but basically just a random taxi driver that had been living on San Cristobal all his life, therefore he knew a thing or two about those turtles.
First off, we headed to a lake called La Junca, which is a caldera lake, and serves the entire island with fresh water. As strange as it may seem, this area is almost constantly shrouded in fog, and as such, photos opportunities were limited. In a burst of silliness, as we all knew we'd be traveling around in a taxi, all 6 of us were shod in flip flops. The hike up to the lake, had us all slipping and sliding, struggling to keep upright while trekking in the mud and misty grass. In between banks of fog, we were able to just glimpse the water's edge, but only if you tried to focus on it. Take your eyes away, and the lake disappeared again. Apparently, this is fairly typical, even during the dry season.
Off we went to visit the Galapaguera. In its heyday, there were upwards of 100,000 of these prehistoric-looking beasts lumbering around, but then as is typical, the Europeans arrived, and made off with countless turtle steaks deep in their holds. Another wave of folks from Guayaquil also decided in the mid-1900s that the oil derived from said turtles, would make an excellent fuel for street lights in their town. And so the numbers declined further. I'm not sure who figured out that these guys made for good press, but someone must have seen that people paying over a bunch of years to take photos, might be good publicity for the islands, and for Ecuador in general. So we bought into the program, and got our requisite pictures.
The Center also has a very successful breeding program - 60% of the eggs now hatch, as opposed to a 20% success rate in the wild.
After seeing the turtles, we headed off to Puerto Chino, the location of the finest sand on San Cristobal. It was like talc, and from a high cliff overlooking the water, we saw massive marine turtles swimming, too.
So the grand total of our tour cost us $15/person, and that included a tip for our driver. Combined with the fact that the day lasted for 6 hours, I'd say that was money well spent.
Yup, our life in the zoo, and it costs about the same as the one in San Diego!
Our walks to the various snorkeling spots had paid off in the form of new marine life spotted, but we were now ready to spread our wings abit and see the rest of the island. Yesterday, along with another boat that had joined us having also recently arrived from the mainland, and another random traveling couple, we piled into a taxi truck to head north to the La Galapaguera, which was a breeding and protectionist habitat of those wily Galapagos Tortoises. The money saved was in the form of not going via a tour agency in town, but basically just a random taxi driver that had been living on San Cristobal all his life, therefore he knew a thing or two about those turtles.
First off, we headed to a lake called La Junca, which is a caldera lake, and serves the entire island with fresh water. As strange as it may seem, this area is almost constantly shrouded in fog, and as such, photos opportunities were limited. In a burst of silliness, as we all knew we'd be traveling around in a taxi, all 6 of us were shod in flip flops. The hike up to the lake, had us all slipping and sliding, struggling to keep upright while trekking in the mud and misty grass. In between banks of fog, we were able to just glimpse the water's edge, but only if you tried to focus on it. Take your eyes away, and the lake disappeared again. Apparently, this is fairly typical, even during the dry season.
Off we went to visit the Galapaguera. In its heyday, there were upwards of 100,000 of these prehistoric-looking beasts lumbering around, but then as is typical, the Europeans arrived, and made off with countless turtle steaks deep in their holds. Another wave of folks from Guayaquil also decided in the mid-1900s that the oil derived from said turtles, would make an excellent fuel for street lights in their town. And so the numbers declined further. I'm not sure who figured out that these guys made for good press, but someone must have seen that people paying over a bunch of years to take photos, might be good publicity for the islands, and for Ecuador in general. So we bought into the program, and got our requisite pictures.
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| Is this my best side..... |
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| Even the tortoise world has conflicts |
 |
| ....or is this? |
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| His knees look like mine feel after a lifetime of snow skiing |
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| Photo evidence - "we were here" |
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| Babies everywhere - these were 1 month old |
So the grand total of our tour cost us $15/person, and that included a tip for our driver. Combined with the fact that the day lasted for 6 hours, I'd say that was money well spent.
Yup, our life in the zoo, and it costs about the same as the one in San Diego!
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