Galapagos 2020: Part 2 - Santa Cruz Island

(This section of the trip log includes Saturday and Sunday spent on Santa Cruz. You can enlarge any picture in this narrative by clicking on it - it will open in a separate window and in many cases, show detail you can't see in the smaller version.)

Saturday January 11

We had breakfast at the hotel buffet again; then their shuttle service took us (and Justin and Robyn who were also joining the tour at this point) back to the airport.  [Note on the Wilderness Travel schedule:  some people are there for a 2 week trip that includes all of the islands (in this case, there were 11 in that group).  Some were just there for the first week and did the eastern islands (those 4 completed their tour today); our portion was the second half and was to cover the western islands, so the 5 of us were joining the group this afternoon.] The person from the local tour service (Andando Tours) who was supposd to meet us at the airport was late.  There are several steps for signing into this flight as we need boarding passes plus we have to pay the special fee to enter the Galapagos.  We had figured out how to get the boarding passes from the machine but our liaison person showed up just in time with all the paperwork to keep us from paying $20 per person over again!  It was an easy plane ride from Guayaquil to the tiny airport at Baltra.  We were met promptly at the other end by a Wilderness Travel Guide, Maria, who took good care of us for most of Saturday.

We took a public bus from the airport to the dock.  Really, there isn't anything beyond the airport and docks on Baltra other than lots of cactus and some old buildings from when it was used as a US Army base during WWII.   At the dock we were picked up by a Wilderness Travel boat just to shuttle us across the Itabaca channel over to the Santa Cruz dock where we boarded a van and had a scenic ride through the highlands to a tortuga (tortoise) ranch.

Right away we saw tortoises all over the place!  After ordering our lunches we had a lovely walk through the property and learned a lot about tortoises.  You can get an idea of their size from the first picture below - see the yellow warbler hitching a ride?  They typically weigh around 400 pounds so their legs are very strong but they don't move real fast!  They have long necks - the better to reach the good greens with.  They also enjoy hanging out in the "swimming hole" to stay cool.  You can get an estimate of age from the shells - the more layers there are, the longer they have lived.  You can also tell the oldest ones because their shells are smoother - if you enlarge the one in the center picture, you can't see the individual layers very well because the edges have worn down over the years.  However, again, if you enlarge the one on the right you can discern the many layers of shell at the edges of each segment.

     

We also took a short walk through a lava tunnel, reminding us of the volcanic history of these islands.  We then had a very nice lunch at the Visitor Center where we could enjoy the environment and also the various Galapagos Finches who came looking for handouts (15 difference species are all known as "Darwin finches" as they were the basis of much of his research into natural selection and the variations among the similar species).

     

Next, back into the van and on to the Darwin Research Center within the National Park - John, Justin and Robyn entering at the left.  As we walked along the road, we saw mainly marine iguanas all over the place.  They obviously knew they were safe there since they totally ignored all of the people.  I nicknamed the pathway "iguana highway" as they lined both sides!  Maria used some of the displays to talk to us about the various species of iguanas and explain some of the differences.

Below are some of the resident iguanas ignoring us, and some saddleback tortoises - their shells have evolved to the point where their necks can stretch much further up to reach food during times of drought or competition. 

   

On the left is a Galapagos Mockingbird that we passed along our walk - there were many of them all over the islands.  And on the right is a corral of yearlings (born in 2019).  They are about the size of a typical "box turtle" that we find in the US.  The youth are kept in individual corrals where they are protected and fed until they're more able to care for themselves, usually 6-7 years.

We saw lots of other exhibits, including the taxidermied remains of Lonesome George who died in 2012.  He was found as the last remaining tortoise on Pinta Island and was brought to Santa Cruz in 1971 where all efforts to breed him with a similar species failed.  So he was known as the "last of his species."  Interestingly, I just saw an article yesterday from The Galapagos Conservancy about a group of researchers who studied a previously unknown colony of tortoises near Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island.  After analyzing lots of blood specimens, they have identified a young female who appears to be only one generation removed from George.  Since she herself is a hybrid, and it is known that George did not reproduce after 1971, that implies there COULD be other tortoises of his species (or at least close relatives) remaining on Isabela!

Eventually we made our way down to Puerto Ayora where we met the rest of the group and were turned over to Ceci who will be our guide for the rest of the tour.  The first thing we noticed was just walking along the waterfront, the dock areas were not only full of pelicans looking for handouts, which we are used to seeing, but also sea lions!   We met the rest of the group and got some nice cold water at Andrea & Valerio's (restaurant/ bar).  Later in the afternoon we got the news that they needed a part for the ship's generator that they couldn't get tonight so Ceci herded us all to a local hotel, Solymar, and then we had a delightful dinner at a waterfront restaurant, Bahia Mar.  In one of those "small world" moments, I discovered that one of our companions (Jim) also knew a woman we went to college with.  Since it was a very small college, that was pretty remarkable! 

After dinner we took the pangas out to the ship to collect just what we would need for tonight and tomorrow - due to the lack of power it was deemed not safe for us to stay on board.  And someone got us all together for a group picture at the Santa Cruz welcome sign by the dock.

Sunday January 12

We had the buffet breakfast at the hotel (actually at their "sister hotel" location across the street - Isla Sol) which was very nice, then we headed to Playa Brava.  First we had to walk through a large dry, heavily cactus area on a paved trail (right), then we arrived at the beach and walked "forever" on the very white, fine sand, down to a point where we curved back up to a lagoon.  The map at the left shows the roughly 4 miles round trip route.

Below are some of the scenes and critters along the way.  At the left, looking from the beach towards the dunes with the mountains in the background; then a picture of the crowds.  Obviously we weren't the only people making this walk  - it seems to be a fairly popular destination for a day of beach.   Below those are just some pictures of wildlife - the shore birds we've seen a lot in other places (semipalmated sandpiper and the whimbrel with the curved bill); the red sally lightfoot crabs are all over the place down here but such fun to watch; and then a picture with 2 iguanas and a crab on some of the lava rocks. 

     

   

Once we got around to the lagoon there were some (small) shady places to lay out towels, some went sea kayaking, others just waded or swam.  There are many more pictures in the pictures only section!  And of course, it was a very long, hot trek back but I didn't need to take as many pictures of the same scenes!  We had a late lunch upstairs at Andrea & Valerio's that was very good (actually ALL of the food we had - except some in the airports - was great).  We took a short rest, did some shopping (John got a couple of t-shirts) and then had dinner at the Almar a couple of blocks down the street.

After dinner we got the great news that we could re-board the Mary Anne!  So we scurried around packing up everything in the hotel and getting down to the dock to catch the panga out to our boat.  By the time we got there it was bedtime so we didn't even unpack all the way, we just crashed and looked forward to the morning adventures!

Click here to continue with Part 3 of the Galapagos Trip
Click here to return to the Galapagos Index
Click here to return to Barb's Index
Click here to return to Fotos 'n Stuff Home Page