Tortoise Day
It might depend on my mood or the company I’m in, but some days are just better then others. On November 22 we ended our seven day long boat trip through many of the Galapagos Islands and once again ended up in Puerto Ayora. Seriously, I have to say, I could not have been happier. Don’t get me wrong, the boat trip was awesome and I truly loved every minute of it, it’s just that I liked the minutes with Dramamine (motion sickness drug) in my system, a bit more than others. I never actually got sick, but I sure was glad to step on terra firma again knowing that tonight I will be taking my hot shower in a non-rocking bathroom and sleeping on a full-size non-rocking bed.
The first day back on land ended up being a tortoise day. It is pretty much the only animal we say the whole day. First we went to the Darwin Station which was a great place to see many tortoises from different islands in the archipelago. As part of the preservation project, tortoises are bred there and then repopulated back to their island of origin. It was a nice place, but we had almost the whole afternoon left with not much to do. So, we went back to the person who so far has been most helpful to us in Port Ayora - Ginny, the owner of Moonrise Travel. In no time, we had a day tour booked with a level 3 naturalist who was no other then Ginny's husband Steven! You might think that there were some family favors played, but I think we got the best deal. Steven was great to talk to and the whole 5 hours we spent together we didn't have a dull moment. His parents are American and they were some the first settlers on the Santa Cruz island, but he was born and raised here and knows everybody [interesting] and anything on the islands. Steven took us to several interesting places where we could see magnificent 500 pound tortoises "run" free.
More Pictures
To me, these creatures seemed prehistoric, especially when they walked, moving like tanks, stretching their necks out of their shells, looking like a Brontosaurus, and making a woosh-like sound retreating into their carapaces, less hiding, and more defending like. Through the reserve we ended up in small shack-like restaurant on a hill which to our surprise belonged to no other but Steven. Apparently, this was part of Rancho Mariposo horse farm, the land where his parents originally settled on the island. Since the tortoises are not to be touched many of them end up on his land and this is where many other guides bring their groups, for a small fee to the owner. However, since there were only two of us, Steven went out of his way (I asked other travelers) and while we were hiking through the reserve, called for his land worker Augusto, to bring us a fruit I have never tasted before - Guyava. No, this is not the Guava we know of in the States, not even close. It grows on trees in bean like form. To open, you twist it like you want to give it an “indian burn”, and it cracks open. Inside there are oval “beans” except they look nothing like beans. They look more like balls of cotton and are extremely sweet to the taste. Inside those are black seeds, which come out so clean there is a saying in Ecuador about being as “clean” (moneyless) as a Guyava seed.
Overall, it was a great day. Coincidently we also found out that his son is no other then Duncan, our naturalist from the boat. I guess the apple does not fall far away from the tree…
The first day back on land ended up being a tortoise day. It is pretty much the only animal we say the whole day. First we went to the Darwin Station which was a great place to see many tortoises from different islands in the archipelago. As part of the preservation project, tortoises are bred there and then repopulated back to their island of origin. It was a nice place, but we had almost the whole afternoon left with not much to do. So, we went back to the person who so far has been most helpful to us in Port Ayora - Ginny, the owner of Moonrise Travel. In no time, we had a day tour booked with a level 3 naturalist who was no other then Ginny's husband Steven! You might think that there were some family favors played, but I think we got the best deal. Steven was great to talk to and the whole 5 hours we spent together we didn't have a dull moment. His parents are American and they were some the first settlers on the Santa Cruz island, but he was born and raised here and knows everybody [interesting] and anything on the islands. Steven took us to several interesting places where we could see magnificent 500 pound tortoises "run" free.
More Pictures
To me, these creatures seemed prehistoric, especially when they walked, moving like tanks, stretching their necks out of their shells, looking like a Brontosaurus, and making a woosh-like sound retreating into their carapaces, less hiding, and more defending like. Through the reserve we ended up in small shack-like restaurant on a hill which to our surprise belonged to no other but Steven. Apparently, this was part of Rancho Mariposo horse farm, the land where his parents originally settled on the island. Since the tortoises are not to be touched many of them end up on his land and this is where many other guides bring their groups, for a small fee to the owner. However, since there were only two of us, Steven went out of his way (I asked other travelers) and while we were hiking through the reserve, called for his land worker Augusto, to bring us a fruit I have never tasted before - Guyava. No, this is not the Guava we know of in the States, not even close. It grows on trees in bean like form. To open, you twist it like you want to give it an “indian burn”, and it cracks open. Inside there are oval “beans” except they look nothing like beans. They look more like balls of cotton and are extremely sweet to the taste. Inside those are black seeds, which come out so clean there is a saying in Ecuador about being as “clean” (moneyless) as a Guyava seed.
Overall, it was a great day. Coincidently we also found out that his son is no other then Duncan, our naturalist from the boat. I guess the apple does not fall far away from the tree…