Puerto Ayora Day 2

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This morning we woke up at about 0630, ate a quick breakfast, and ran to Tortuga Bay, about 3 miles from the center of town. There was a beautifully cobblestoned running path that lead through a forest of Giant Cacti trees filled with several varieties of Darwin finches. Tortuga Bay beach is a beautiful wide stretch of sheer white sand, with numerous marine iguanas basking in the sun on the beach, and body surfing the waves in. We swam alongside some in a sheltered cove surrounded by volcanic rock. It was just us and the iguanas in complete isolation, feeling like we had been transported into a land before time. We then walked to a saltwater inland bay, seeing dozens and dozens of iguanas along the way. Once we reached the bay we saw two blue footed boobies within 5 feet of the trail, completely at ease with our presence.

We ran back into town (8+mi roundtrip) and then took a water taxi ($0.60) across the bay to Angermeyer Point, where a 1 mile long volcanic rock trail led us to Los Grietas. Along the way we passed Las Salinas, a salt mine, where they were harvesting large bags of sea salt. We arrived at Los Grietas, which is a beautiful inland saltwater fjord. We swam with the locals and watched as they jumped from the cliff sides

After lunch we went to the highlands of the island, which is very green and lush due to the amount of rainfall and mist the area gets. We went to the El Chato Reserve, which is part of the Galapagos Park system and home to dozens of Giant Tortoise. These adorable lumbering behemoths are the poster children of the Galapagos. Their adult weight can reach 500 pounds, and they can live to be several hundred years old. As we walked the trails of the reserve we realized why turtles are depicted in cartoons with glasses, they have terrible eyesight. Dennis was almost run into by one as we shot video of him walking up the trail. Once they detect danger, they withdraw into their shell and loudly hiss. Thankfully once fully grown the tortoise don’t have any predators, as they are so docile and slow, they would make an incredibly easy target. Also on the preserve were two large lava tubes that we hiked down into.

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