And so our last full day on the Galapagos Islands started early again.... The breakfasts are glorious with fresh watermelon, huge pineapple pieces, melon and even guava juice! There is a wonderful spread of things to choose from - its always a buffet for breakfast and lunch and then we are served dinner....... Always way too good. And then we are off to the zodiacs, lifejackets firmly clipped and camera strung around my neck with a waterproof bag over it. this morning the swells were really showing their thing and we really had to time the short hop to the inflateable very carefully. Some of us made some really interesting steps and landings, but all stayed dry.
The island was Santa Cruz and the town Punta Aroya, a fair sized town where most of the guides live. The harbor is home to a good many very delapidated boats of all shapes and sizes. Most of them have hand painted names on them. The sealions pick a boat to lay on for the day and hop right on up, sometimes apparently tipping the boat over! There were two really big three masted ships in there - they were probably really pretty in their heyday, but would take a millionaire to even start thinking about fixing them up. It was lovely taking a slow wander through the harbor and getting a close up of the boats.
Then it was onto shore and ito busses where we were taken to the Charles Darwin Center...... It was all closed up, but we were able to walk around outside and see the tortoise breeding center and get really close up to some really humongeous tortoises! Lonesome George was there, looking really sad and tired.. He is a lowlands tortoise so does not get as big as the others we saw, but his shell was still as high as my knees! He is the last of his type of tortoise and is around 90 years old. there is a hunt on for a mate for him, but they are not very hopeful..... In the meantime there are efforts going on to breed him with another type that is really close to his dna strand and they should know in the next two weeks whether those eggs are fertile. Lonesome George still has a good 70 - 80 years ahead of him, but he sure looked as if he could do with some livening up!
The other tortoises there were also really huge and surprised us that they could move as fast as they do. The one male was making eyes at a female and the race was on! She waited till he was exactly on the opposite side of the tree and then she kicked herself into gear and headed out into the forest with him screaming behind her.... we stood and watched for a few minutes and then as they reached the first set of trees, a full 10 feet away, we all left and gave them some privacy... Many tortoise eggs from the different islands are collected, successfully bred and the babies raised till around 5 years old and then they are released back to their own islands.... In the breading center the little tortoises wander around with color coded numbers on their backs so they can be easily identified.
And then we were left to wander around the town for a couple of hours. Most of the shops along the main road are tourist shops with widely varying prices on all the same type of stuff. The really nice stuff is really pricey and .......well, we bought a few little knick knacks for the grandkids. It was good to wander away from the group and not be organized for a while and explore a good few of the side roads. I gather this is not often done as the locals seemed surprised that we had wandered away from the main drag. This is the only way to see the Galapagos Islands...... all tourists here are in groups that are led by licenced naturalists. No one is allowed to independantly roam the islands, unless you are born on the islands.
The afternoon excursion was again back to the same island, Santa Cruz, but up to the highlands to see the really really big tortoises! What a beautiful drive that was. The bus kicked and screamed, moaned and groaned all the way up to the top - sometimes slipping gears and a few times we felt as if we should get out and help push, but she made it. The highlands of this island is so absolutely and totally different from the lower levels...... that is all brown and dry and hardly ever gets any rain, but a mere few miles up the road and everything changes. The trees grew tall and the spanish moss hung from everything that was more than a foot off the ground. The grass grew in huge lush rich green tufts all over the place and the bushes and ......well, everything was just amazing.
And then there we were with this huge field in front of us with the most beautifully rounded boulders dotted everywhere..... only they were tortoises! And we thought the others were big - these were just purely incredible. They moved around slowly and surely, knowing that this land is their land. Even the farmers around here have to leave a big enough gap under their fences so that the tortoises and roam free. As we approached them, they just lift their heads and watch us looking incredibly like ET. i got some really lovely close up photos of them looking straight at the camera as well as with them happily munching on the abundant greenery that was everywhere. It was almost surreal to see these fields of slow moving tortoises that weighed hundreds of pounds each, and really lovely to see them so protected.
Too soon it was time to head out of there - but I was keen to see the lava tunnels and they were not too far away. These are huge tunnels that the lava used to run down to the ocean in. It was totally incredible! We went to a part of one tunnel that was just under a mile long and we could walk through for a fair way. This particular one was discovered only 40 years ago when a farmers cow fell into the entry hole. Now there are stairs to go down and some soft lighting so that we could see where we were going. I just loved it! The tunnel was very high - I dunno - 60 feet high maybe and it curved around corners pulling me down its length until the guide, Roman, told us to come back. Water dripped through from the ceiling and sides, keeping everything damp the ground all wet. Some people were scared to be in there, but it really fascinated me and I was sad to have to leave there. We had spent longer at the giant tortoises than intended and had to get back to the Galapagos Legend before dark.
After a really interesting ride down the mountain at high speed and us all spotting giant tortoises along the way, we safely boarded the ship for our last briefing and instructions for leaving today. It was sad, but also time for us to go...to move on to the next stage. And so the goodbyes started - happy goodbyes and lots of hugs and handshakes. I went to sit and chat to the Sri Lankan's and really enjoyed chatting with those ladies - what a sense of humor they have! And then, to the tune of the song "Its time to Say Goodbye", we all boarded the zodiacs for the last time and headed for shore........
The sky was cloudy and we did not have a good view of the islands as we flew off, but I did get to stand in sealion pee for the last time as we jumped onto shore, and we had to walk really carefully past the big ones guarding the walkway and steps... We stood outside looking around, right before going into the airport building, which is not a closed building at all... and we thought again about just where we stood, what we had seen and how incredibly fortunate we have been. During the past week, it was easy to be so busy and tired that you kinda forget where you are. Everything just moves along with very little time to reflect, which is also why we passed up the last shore excusion to Bacchus Beach early this morning. In stead, we packed and spent the last few hours on the boat, just wandering around enjoying the quiet, the birds and the ocean breeze. It was lovely.
We have come away with some incredible memories and hopefully many good photographs too - it will take a few days for it all to sink in and for me to really put into words what it meant to be at the Galapagos Islands.... it was beyond incredible, totally special, unforgettable and so much more!
And now, here we are in Peru - but thats a whole story in itself...... and for tomorrow, hopefully :)
nighty night
love and light
Annie
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