This is the third and final post of our days in the Galapagos Islands. If you missed the first two, click here and here to catch up!
In my last post I introduced you to some cool creatures: swimming iguanas, birds that totally forgot how to fly (Flightless Cormorants), the only penguin species chillin’ north near the equator and Booby birds with those funky blue feet. Now let’s talk about the big namesake of the islands – the Giant Tortoise!
When the Spanish explorers showed up there were so many of these massive creatures that they ended up naming the islands after them. Fun fact: the Spanish word galápago actually means tortoise! For us to see them in person our ship anchored at Puerto Ayora at Santa Cruz Island.
Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz is the hub of the Galapagos Islands and headquarters for the Charles Darwin Research Station. It’s the second largest island in the chain, after Isabela. The capital here is Puerto Ayora, the most populated urban center in the Islands as well as the largest port town:
We were driven to the highlands of Puerto Ayora to meet these huge tortoises at a reserve, where 3,300 of the gentle giants reside. They roam free in search of food and shallow ponds. On the way we could see them moving slowly along the road and in some homesteads:
These large and slow-moving herbivorous tortoises are the largest in the world. Weighing up to 500 pounds and growing up to five feet long, they can have a lifespan of over 150 years:
It is thought that all the present species evolved in the islands from one common ancestor that arrived from the mainland through oceanic dispersal. Among the 14 types on the islands, some have domed shells while others sport saddle-backed shells. Only 10 subspecies and about 15,000 individuals remain today, a sharp decrease from the 250,000 that once lived here.
Bahia Gardner, Espanola Island
We visited another island with a long expanse of white sand, Gardner Bay at Espanola Island. It boasts one of the best beaches in the islands, and yes it was pristine! Numerous cousins of the California Sea Lion were sunbathing, oblivious of our presence. We did a bit of snorkeling and walked on the beach while there:
Sea Lions are the most abundant of the archipelago’s rare marine mammals. They are heavily protected, even though there are about 50,000 of them. El Niño weather is their biggest threat:
Los Lobos, San Cristobal
Our final excursion was a short hike at Los Lobos, a small and flat islet separated from San Cristobal via a channel. It’s a seasonal nesting location for Blue-footed Boobies, and we found several of them in pairs just chilling and watching us while standing guard on the trail. Of all the walks we did on this trip it was the most difficult, for we were walking on big rounded volcanic rocks:
Take a listen to our naturalist guide explaining why these Boobies have blue feet:
Back on the ship
As our time was winding down and between all of the activities we managed to insert some non-wildlife tours within the Silver Origin. We have taken tours of cruise ship bridges, but Steve has always wanted to also tour the engine rooms which is usually not allowed. Well, we lucked out this time!
First we visited the bridge – this baby is a modern marvel of technology that entered service in 2021, specifically for Galapagos:
The engine control room and all of the mechanical, computer and networking systems were amazing!
This post would be incomplete if I didn’t include some food pictures. The ship offered Ecuadorian-inspired cuisine prepared using truly authentic Ecuadorian recipes with only the freshest local ingredients. We loved them and gobbled everything up with much gusto – yum! Here are a few:
As we were heading back to San Cristobal for disembarkation we passed Kicker Rock again. This time it was from a different perspective, and at a distance it looked like a shoe to me:
Finally it was time to say our goodbyes. This week-long visit was packed with daily dry and wet activities providing numerous sightings of things that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.
The Galapagos Islands are one of the most pristine natural areas we have visited, with plentiful and curious wildlife that were fearless of us.
And that’s a wrap on our epic adventure! We kicked things off in Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu in Peru. Then a week hanging out with the wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, ending our trip in Quito, Ecuador. After years of dreaming about it, we’re so glad we finally checked these big items off our South America bucket list.
What a trip!
Till next time…
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