Directly off the pier we were greeted by the now regular sight of sea lions on benches intended of people and black tipped reef sharks swimming off the jetty.
The fish market at Puerto Ayora was unlike anything I have ever seen, a persistent sea lion had their nose right next to the where the fish monger was cutting up the fish, poised for any scraps that may slide off…. What the sea lion did not eat was cleaned up by a group of pelicans who were waiting in the wings. The lobsters and fish on sale are all caught by local fisherman on a line rather than nets to prevent over-fishing.
The Darwin research station has a number of interesting projects, the main one being the breeding of giant tortoises, where they raise adults as well as baby tortoises before they are returned to the wild. Another interesting project is the eradication of wasps which are caught using a solution of water, sugar and detergent. There was an dedicated climate controlled pavillion to view the taxidermied remains of the famous giant tortoise – Lonesome George who died in 2012 the last of his sub-species. Although a little light on the explanations of the environment and animals it was still a worthwhile visit.
We had the opportunity to visit Rancho El Manzanillo, in the highlands of Isla Santa Cruz, luckily we were well equipped with waterproofs as the rain and vegetation made the supplied gum boots the best option to get around. We were able to see giant tortoises in what is close to their natural habitat, they exhale and retreat into their shell if you came too close to them. Their seemed to be quite a lot more active than those at the Darwin Station and could cover quite a lot of distance should they be required to.
That evening we received a tsunami warning, as a result of the earthquake in Tonga (11,966.87 kilometres or away), the captain left the boat to get a briefing from the port authority and we were requested to leave the harbour at 4.30 in the morning; the pulling of the anchor and the engines managed to wake all the passengers up. Luckily, the only impact on us was the larger than normal swell.
Travel date: 26 December 2018
Reflections 