We left enchanting Quito on the morning of December 27th and arrived at Baltra airport a little after 1:15 pm. We were, fortunately, not left stranded here as a man from the tour company, Rebecca Adventures, greeted us at the airport and accompanied us for a 10 minute bus ride to the Itabaca Channel. From there we took a short ferry that took us to the Santa Cruz island and it was at the channel that we encountered our first brown pelican, boldly fishing right next to the boat we were on.
Once we crossed the channel, a pick up truck drove us to meet our guide for the day, Caesar. Almost 70 year old, Caesar was friendly, pleasant, energetic, well-informed and clearly extremely proud of his birthplace. As he drove us to see one of the several lava tunnels that dot the island of Santa Cruz he identified for us the flora, fauna, and different species of animals, reptiles, birds that are either native or endemic to Galapagos. Once we arrived at the tunnels, we got to see a couple of regulars – two barn owls who come to a cozy room to rest. The tunnels were short and well lit. An area was so narrow that we had to get on all fours and even crawl a bit to get to the other side.
After the tunnels, Caesar drove us to a ranch for a delectable lunch and then to meet with the much awaited giant tortoises.
I had read about these ancient creatures and seen pictures of them but seeing them in real time was an experience I am not going to forget. Many of them were over 100 years old. They were staid, steady, gentle. I felt humbled in their presence. Time seemed to slow down as we watched them eat the vegetation. They deliberately, slowly tore the grass, chewed them and went back to tear more. There was a slow rhythm to their movements that seemed almost hypnotic. I felt I could stand there and watch them do the same activity for hours. And as they ate, sometimes they exhaled with a gentle hmmmmmm….sound. That, to me, seemed almost meditative. Caesar is in love with these creatures and his love for them is evident in the knowledge and respect that he has for them. He introduced them as his friends. He has known some of them for over 40 years and has even named them as Caesar 1, Caesar 2, Caesar 3…till Caesar 8. And all these Caesars seemed to recognize the human Caesar’s voice. They heard his voice and raised their heads to pose for him. He introduced us to them and spoke to them as friends, asking how they were doing. Birds like Warbler Finches and Darwin’s Finches were flitting around, eating the seeds from the poop of tortoises, and the fleas and ticks on their bodies. Caesar explained to us the symbiotic relationship of all the birds, reptiles and animals in that natural habitat that keep the cycle of life intact. Endangering one species will tip the scale causing enormous damage to the whole system. We knew that theoretically, but seeing the cycle in action was a true revelation.
After spending a few hours with the tortoises, we were driven to our hotel in Puerto Ayora. Once we settled in, splashed water on our faces and cleaned up, we went out to the happening street Charles Darwin Street where all the restaurants, shops are. And there were sea lions fighting on the dock! The sea lions just claimed any bench or space on these islands and humans made space for them. We encountered the sea lions for the first time and we were super excited. During the course of our stay in the islands, these sightings became so common place that we almost took them for granted. The cutest were the little baby sea lions suckling or waddling behind their mamas.
Huge Christmas tree, lights, music – the merry ambiance made us forget that Christmas was over. In Puerto Ayora, the celebration continued.
We were expected to meet our guide at 7:45 am at Tortuga Bay to board a bus and then a boat to go to North Seymour for a day trip so we found a place to eat dinner and walked back to our hotel to get some sleep. I dreamt of tortoises.
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