San Cristobal Island

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Geo: -0.915041, -89.6234

Avianca A319 to Galapagos, 3.5hr flight including a stop in Guayaquil. Landed at San Cristobal airport at 1245 (time zone 1hr before Quito) and got transported to our ship.

After seeing our (very nice) cabin we had a short briefing and lunch, then headed off in a minivan across San Cristobal to see the giant tortoises. As you'd hope and expect, our guide Hanzel was full of information about the islands and their wildlife. Australia had a famous Galapagos tortoise called Harriet who died a decade or so ago at Steve Irwin's zoo. Harriet was famous as the last living tortoise brought from the Galapagos by Charles Darwin in 1835.

Only four of the eight guest cabins on this small ship "Domenica" are occupied. There are a couple and two guys from Zurich, a Brit couple from the Channel Islands and us. The ship has a total staff of 12. 45m long, 10m wide with a draught of 2.6m.

Very limited wi-fi on board. I don't think I'll be able to update the blog...

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Photos

Port welcoming party
There were sea lions everywhere at the port, who would give a warning bark if you got too close (within 2m, more or less). Pascal and Noelle from Zurich walked out on a boardwalk and a sea lion hopped off the rocks and straddled the path behind them. They could not pass it to get back until Hanzel came, ignored its warnings and shooed it away.

Giant Tortoise
We saw many tortoises at this conservation and breeding park. The animals can grow to about 300kg and live to 175 years of age. The males are about triple the size of the females, who lay and bury between 2 and 16 eggs once a year. Once laid, the eggs are on their own to hatch in 3 to 4 months, depending on the temperature. The incubation temperature also determines the sex of the young. The eggs nearest the surface are warmest and they become females.

Two males
The age of a tortoise can be estimated by the rings that remain visible on its shell segments. Each tortoise has 34 segments that make up the shell, and each segment starts off with several rings around its perimeter. With age, these rings become more indistinct. The near tortoise weighs about 150kg and is perhaps 40-50 years old. The back tortoise is a similar size but it's smoother shell suggests it is about 100 years old.

Juvenile tortoise
The segments and rings are clearly visible. Tortoise shells take about 8 years to become hard enough to repel predators - large birds, and rats. This 120mm youngster is perhaps a year or two old and needs to be protected in a cage for some years yet. The Island's breeding programs are successful.

Cabin 5
Nicely appointed 25sqm cabin with a fully functional ensuite. We are at the front of the ship and the lowering of the chain anchor in the middle of the night certainly gets our attention.

Lounge, etc
Our cabin is on the same deck, just down the hallway. We were nonplussed to hear that we could only settle our account in cash, but a trip to the ATM in San Cristobal fixed that.

Sun deck
That's our sister ship in the distance. The two ships are nearly identical.

Domenica
Returning to the ship on Wed avo. Four cabins on each of the two main decks. Crew quarters and engine room at the waterline. We use an inflatable to get to and from the ship, and it's 20hp outboard struggles with ten people on board.