Day 6: Travel to the Galapagos

Bookstore shelf in Quito airport.

On Tuesday, we flew from the Quito airport to the Galapagos, landing in the airport in Baltra. Before we left, I browsed the book shop inside the airport because I have been curious about the literature of Ecuador. They had just one book by an Ecuadorian author on the shelves. I noticed several political books on the shelves, a testament to the passion that Ecuadorian people seem to have for all things political. In fact, on the flight, Ms. Koelbl, a learning specialist at Hopkinton Middle School, and I talked with another EF tour guide who shared a lot of information with us about politics. Normally, I prefer to read or do work during flights, but I really enjoyed this conversation since I learned a lot!

Top of the declaration form.

Ecuador is very serious about keeping the Galapagos as protected as possible from outside contaminants. On the flight, each passenger has to fill out a declaration form for any materials that originate from animals or vegetables.

On our way to our hotel on Santa Cruz Island, we stopped at the Twin Craters, two huge sinkholes.

Ms. Meyer in front of the Charles Darwin Research Station

We had lunch at the hotel, then walked a short distance to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Several people in the group and I remarked that we expected to learn much more information about Darwin himself—almost like a museum. Instead, the station is a place where animals Darwin studied—such as turtles, tortoises,  and iguanas—are bred, studied, and cared for.

There are 900 baby turtles born each year at the Darwin Research Station, and each one is color-coded with its island of origin. When they are old enough, the babies are placed into a “training ground,” then eventually released back into the wild.

Baby turtles at play in the training ground.

Lonesome George, a land tortoise from Pinta Island, lived here until his death in June 2012. He was the last of his species, so with his death, the species became extinct. However, shortly before Lonesome George’s death, two females were brought in to mate with him. The female tortoises can retain the sperm inside their bodies for a very long time—as much as a couple of years—so they are remaining at the Research Station until researchers can be certain that they are not carrying fertilized eggs.

Plaque commemorating Lonesome George, or El Solitario Jorge.

We learned a lot about tortoises on this visit:

• Tortoise populations were as high as 250,000 before pirates and goats arrived in the Galapagos in the late 17^th century. They are now at 30,000 and growing, but slowly.
• They can survive for 6-12 months without food or water
• The lines on tortoise shells oxidize naturally over time. When the lines are gone, that is a sign that the tortoise is 100 years old or older.
• A tortoise weighs approximately 180 kg, and the shell is approximately 30% of the weight.
• The tortoise’s shell is made of bone, so it never decomposes.
• Male tortoises are double the female’s size. They also have a concave area under the shell to assist with mating, and a tail up to 3 times as long as the female’s.

We also saw some iguanas and finches. I am 2 days behind in writing these posts, and the iguanas were everywhere on Isabela, the second island we visited, so I will say more about them there.

Puerto Ayora, where we are staying, is the most populous town in the Galapagos, with 12,000 inhabitants. On our walk back from the Darwin Research Station, we went inside a beautiful cemetery. We also stopped in many shops as we walked to the hotel. The stores create the feel of a classic seaside town. They reminded me very much of the Cape, with art galleries, jewelry stores, and souvenir shops. It is really beautiful here and certainly an interesting contrast to the uninhabited islands.

Puerto Ayora cemetery. All of the gravestones were white,
and most had colorful flowers.

Funky shop in Puerto Ayora. The shelves are made out of re-purposed
Rubbermaid containers that have been painted & mounted on the walls.