This is Christian’s home town, as it is for many of our crew. It’s a relatively small town with one main shopping street, but a thriving metropolis for the Galapagos. The first airport was built here, which helped, for better or worse, bring tourism to Puerto Ayora. It’s also the location for the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) and Tortoise Breeding Centre, which is (as you might guess from the spelling of Centre) a British organization. Their mission of scientific research and conservation efforts in a living laboratory has been ongoing since 1959, in close cooperation with the Galapagos National Park.
There is a raised boardwalk through part of the National Park adjacent to the CDRS. It leads through some tortoise breeding pens and exhibits explaining the breeding program, the impact invasive species have on native animals, a focus on recycling, etc.
The goal of the tortoise breeding program is to restore at least 50% of the pre-human tortoise population on the islands. Each island had their own type of tortoise. There used to to be 200,000 tortoises in the Galapagos; today only 10% remain. They are extinct on some islands, and have successfully been restored on others. The CDRS is focusing on two islands now. Eggs are taken from nests on those islands, and incubated in a controlled environment. Once hatched, the tortoises are numbered (the color indicates the island) and cared for for 5 to 6 years until they reach a specific size, at which point they are released on their home island.
Fun fact: the sex of tortoises is determined by the temperature of the incubated eggs. In nature, 3 times as many females Galapagos tortoises as males hatch. The Breeding Centre keeps the same ratio, so 25% of the eggs are incubated at 28 degrees C (82.5 F) and 75% at 29.5 degrees (85 F). The high tech incubator consists of a hairdryer running in a top chamber, with a little fan to blow the warm air in the compartment below, where several plastic bins of eggs are topped with sand and wrapped in plastic. (The dark box simulates the nest.)
Their first two years of life are spent in protected pens. These little guys will be returned to Floreana Island when they are big enough.
They are moved to bigger outdoor pens as they grow.
The Floreana tortoises are saddlebacks. Because the shells don’t fully fuse until the tortoises are largely grown, the shape of their shells will change as the babies start reaching up for food. Saddlebacks have longer necks than domed tortoises, as they’ve evolved to eat vegetation that grows higher off the ground
Lonesome George was a saddleback tortoise from Pinta Island, the northernmost island in the Galapagos. The breed of tortoise was believed to be extinct, as none had been seen since 1906 when scientists from California removed what were believed to be the last three surviving specimens from Pinta Island to take back to the US to preserve. However, in 1971 one was discovered by a scientist. After living by his lonely self for 65 years, he was moved to the Charles Darwin Research Station where he lived for another 40 years. After he died in 2012, Lonesome George was preserved by a taxidermist who did his best to preserve the essence of the famous tortoise, right down to sprinkling dust from Pinta Island as his back.
There’s a protocol to visiting him. You enter as a group through an air lock, where you have a to wait for a couple of minutes. Then you enter the room with LG. No flash photography, no eating or drinking, no crossing the white line around the display case. I mentioned that it was like the Mona Lisa, and Christian remarked that Lonesome George is indeed their Mona Lisa.
Today is the anniversary of the 1859 publication of on the “Origin of the Species”. I tried to look appropriately solemn for the occasion.
We walked down to the fish market, where Christian was hoping to see his parents. Unfortunately, they weren’t there. But we still enjoyed seeing the eager creatures hoping for scraps, and the woman fileting fish for her customers. The pelicans and sea lions were pretty well behaved, even the ones sharing a bench with some locals.
I thought the frigate bird was fake until he turned his head. It’s hard to believe he can blow up that pouch into a giant party balloon!
We had about 20 minutes to wander our way back past the shops to reboard our minibus.
The street is a typical beach district - lots of little shops selling similar items, like t-shirts, buffs, and other souvenirs.
We were taken to El Trapiche, a little farm of sorts, operated by a local family They had demonstrations of extracting sugar cane juice, boiling down the cane juice to make brown sugar, fermentation/distillation of alcohol and some sampling of very potent moonshine. They also produce coffee and chocolate.
In lieu of a donkey, fellow travelers powered the cane juicer.
The farmer splashed some alcohol into the fire running the still, demonstrating that it is, indeed, quite flammable alcohol.
One has to wonder how someone figured out that the seeds in a cacao pod have the potential to make something as incredible as chocolate. The pulpy fruit itself is quite good and seems like it would be sufficient (though a lot of work for a little fruit).
We headed into the highlands for a buffet lunch at Rancho Manzanillo. There we all donned long socks and rubber boots to traipse among the giant Galapagos tortoises. They live in the highlands where the grass and foliage is plentiful. They can live without food and water for up to a year, which is one reason so many were carried away by early ships to the Galapagos. It was an easy way to capture and transport months worth of tasty protein.
So many tortoises!
This is a fairly young fellow, as all of the rings in the carapace plates are still distinct. The rings start to fade and smooth out as the tortoise ages.
This is a fairly young fellow, as all of the rings in the carapace plates are still distinct. The rings start to fade and smooth out as the tortoise ages.
A yellow warbler hitching a ride.
Tortoises take 30 (female) to 35 (male) years to reach sexual maturity. The mating process is a bit of an endurance event, as it can take upwards of three hours. It takes a lot of time and energy just for the male to figure out the right position and get ready. Then he needs a bit of a break before continuing. The female, meanwhile, is pinned in place. After the conclusion, she has to trek to the breeding ground to lay and bury her eggs.
The tortoises are pretty much blind and deaf, and sometimes startled when they saw us come up from behind. We’d hear a “whoosh” as they expelled the air from their lungs so they could retract their heads under the shell.
Puerto Ayora
We had good news today. Our internet access has been out since late Monday. But we had connectivity near town, the captain and doctor conferred with the government health authority, and obtained permission for Greg to complete his quarantine period on board the ship and disembark with us on Saturday. Initially, we were told that he’d be taken off the ship today (Thursday), transferred to the responsibility of the health authority and put in a quarantine hotel until he was released - hopefully for our scheduled Sunday flight to the US. The new arrangements are so much better - at least we’ll be in the same place. He will still disembark separate from everyone else, but we should meet at the airport Saturday morning for our transfer to Guayaquil.
Four more people tested positive today and were disembarked at Puerto Ayora. They were, understandably, not happy. They’ll complete their quarantine there and miss their scheduled extension to Peru. It’s a shame. Suddenly many more people are wearing masks on board.
