Travel trivia: How old can tortoises get? At least 250 years. You can tell by the "rings" on the shield, much like the rings in a tree. They can weigh up to 550 pounds, and once they get to sexual maturity (about 30 years) they can reproduce for the rest of their lives. Tortoises are cool dudes and dudettes.

What an odd way to start the day. There was no wakeup call. We just woke up and eventually sat down for breakfast. These guys really keep you off balance here. The morning was a long nature walk across sandy beaches and lava rocks on Isabela, called Urbina Bay, at the base of Alcedo Volcano. In 1954, half a square mile of the sea bottom was lifted 50ft in about 2 days! Corals were left high and dry, making for a fascinating study of and onsite lecture about corals around the Galapagos islands. I wondered why there was so little. Well, I've since learned that the Galapagos are, of course, relatively young in existence, so coral hasn't really had much of a chance, yet. And the normally mid to high 60s water went up to mid 90s during El Nino in 1983 (or thereabouts), which was absolutely devastating to the local coral population. It's been gradually restoring since, but still has a ways to go. Fascinating. It helps to have Ruly as your guide, since he has a master's in oceanic studies and spent a whole year studying corals around the Galapagos.

We had our first encounters with tortoises this morning as well. They can't really run away from you, but they are definitely aware and cautious around humans. Before they were protected, people from all over the world used to hunt tortoises. Their shells are huge, and they can go without food or water for about a year, making them great food to bring along the old ships. But alas, the tortoises have a good memory, and have been afraid of humans ever since. Nonetheless, we caught up with a few good ones, and some nice baby tortoises, too, We also studied some land iguana behavior. It was an educational morning and a good hike around Urbina Bay.

One thing I really enjoy about this trip is that the guides slash naturalists are SO enthusiastic and passionate. They love their jobs, they share their passion, and they make you hang on to every word. If I had teachers like that in college I wouldn't have failed my corporate finance class.

We chose relaxation for our afternoon activity. We sat on the top deck with a glass of wine and red our books. We did come out to play in the kayaks in Tagus Cove, and the double kayaks worked much better for Liz and me than the divorce rafts did in South Africa 13 years ago. We've come a long way, I must say. Oh, and we didn't have any class 4 rapids today to tip over in and nearly drown, either. A good 40min paddle gave us some exercise we really needed. However you look at it, it's still a boat, and you're somewhat isolated and limited in your activities.

Stargazing was not in the stars for us this night. We were scheduled to do so, but it got really choppy and they didn't want us all out on deck right under those conditions. Redo today, hopefully.