Arrived in The Galapagos onto Baltra Island on the 21st October. Before we had even stepped off the plane we saw a marine iguana lumbering across the runway! Caught a bus to a small ferry to Santa Cruz Island, then a short taxi ride to Puerto Ayora. We were given a few hours to explore the town. In just a few minutes we had seen marine iguanas and pelicans, blue footed boobies, frigate birds and sea lions stealing the fresh catch from the fish market!
It was then time to wander across to The Charles Darwin Research Station. Here we were shown the conservation efforts to help The Galapagos recover after humans introduced many alien species. I offered my services for goat shooting but apparently most of them have been dispatched.
This is the home of Lonesome George (the last tortoise of his kind). They are trying to get him to mate with another species so the his species will not die out. The offspring will not be pedigree but apparently it's better than nothing. Sadly LG did not put in an appearance as it was too hot! We did see Georgina, his potential partner.
The breeding program for the other species is far more successful and once the little guys and girls have matured enough so they cannot be eaten by rats, cats or dogs they are released into the wild. Each island hosts a different species of tortoise depending on what food is available. I could bore you for hours on the technical details but that can wait for our return!
We then had a few hours to kill and some beers to drink before boarding our home for the next eight days, MS Encantada, a beautiful red sailing yacht.
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