The Juliens: Galapagos: Day 2

This morning, we started early. We left the hotel about 6:15 to meet at the dock at 6:30 to catch a boat back to Santa Cruz Island, scheduled to leave at 7am. We have to have our bags checked thoroughly every time we do this, so it requires a little lead time before departures. After a pretty smooth morning crossing, we arrived at Santa Cruz Island. We immediately started a 3km “hike” (it was really a walk) to Tortuga Bay. We walked through the cactus forest. There are three types of cactus in the Galapagos. Two of the types grow on Santa Cruz: the candelabra and the opuntia. The opuntia grows like a tree, complete with bark. I think they’re beautiful. The cactus forest was also full of little lizards and mockingbirds.

When we arrived at Tortuga Bay, we started by wandering along Playa Brava, which just might be the most beautiful beach I’ve seen in my life (sorry, Hawaii…). There are apparently very strong rip currents, so no swimming here. There were pelicans flying and perching (and fishing) and fast little crabs that ran in and out of holes along the beach. We walked along the water’s edge, and a the end of Playa Brava was a gathering of a bunch of iguanas. We kept our requisite 3m distance (maybe? probably not quite, but we did not get too close, I assure you) and took some photos. We then wandered on around to Playa Mansa, which was a much calmer beach. We swam for about an hour before walking back out the same way and heading to lunch.

After lunch we went to the Charles Darwin Station, a conservation station focused mostly on tortoises (but also on iguanas). We learned about how they are attempting to revive the tortoise populations on the island. When the count was first made, there were 14 different species of tortoises in the Galapagos. Now there are only ten. Three species were eliminated by whale hunters, who also over hunted the turtles, mostly for food. The fourth species was eliminated because it was the species living on Fernandina Island, which still has an active volcano. The tortoises were killed by the volcanic activity.

At this conservation station, eggs are incubated and then the baby tortoises are protected until they grow large enough that they have no real natural predators (the major natural predator of the tortoises on the island is the Galapagos Hawk, but that’s mostly for the little guys, usually less than 3-4 years old). The tortoises are moved gradually into “training areas” that resemble natural habitats. When they have matured sufficiently, they are released back into the real natural habitats. Tortoise species on the islands do not usually naturally intermix; a given species congregates either on an island, or, in the case of the larger islands around specific areas on the island (usually in the calderas of the volcanoes). The tortoises being helped on Santa Cruz Island actually come from four different islands. We also heard some really interesting stories here about other conservation efforts. For instance, for a long time there remained a single specimen of the tortoises from Pinta Island (“Lonesome George”). A long search went on to find another of this species, but to no avail. Two tortoises from a very closely related species (“Georgina” and “Georgegette”) were brought into “keep George company.” George apparently didn’t know what to do with them. He didn’t seem interested. So a (human) trainer (Giselle) was hired to teach George the ropes. She talked to him, explained things, and “manipulated” him to help him learn. George caught on, and soon Georgina and Georgette laid some eggs. Unfortunately, the eggs were all empty. After several such failed attempts. Georgina and Georgette were replaced by two tortoises of a different species that was discovered to be even more closely related to George. They even named them Georgina and Georgette. But George wasn’t fooled. He never showed any interested in his new companions, and he died in 2012.

After our tour of the conservation station, we headed back to the dock for our boat back to San Cristobal Island. This was the roughest (and longest) boat ride so far. We had some dinner. Tomorrow: snorkeling and some hiking.