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Up early leaving for the airport at 7.20am. Easy drive to the airport and fairly seamless check in. We pay USD $20 at this point to get a permit to visit the islands.
Flight is about 90 minutes and the time difference is 1 hour back so winning all round.
Lots of checks to go through to get into this area. And we pay another USD$100 to enter supposedly going towards the conservation and protection of the habitat. Once we have passed all the screenings we meet our guide Maritza. She will be with us during our stay in Galápagos. Her English is excellent and she is very good at explaining what we need to do. We catch a public bus down to the shore where we catch a ferry to takes us from the island of Baltra to the island of Santa Cruz. Once across the small stretch of beautiful blue water we get on our own bus with our driver Joel and head for the highest point of the island 600m above sea level!
The vegetation on the north of the island mainly consists of bare trees and low shrubs. The trees lose their leaves in the dry season and are covered in white lichen which helps to protect them from the heat and keep the moisture in until the rains come and the leaves grow back. As we ascend the vegetation changes to be more green and dense, the perfect environment for the giant tortoises.
We stop for a brief look at a caldera left by volcanic action. Santa Cruz does not have an active volcano today.
We are heading to El Chato Ranch for lunch and to see the giant tortoises and lava tubes. It’s been a longtime since breakfast so everyone is looking forward to lunch. We have a choice of 6 dishes which are prepared to order.
While waiting for lunch we have a perfect vantage point to observe the tortoises and Darwin finches.
After a delicious lunch we go for a walk to see the lava tubes and to get up closer to the tortoises. We are so fortunate that there are so many tortoises around. The ranch borders on the National Park so the tortoises roam freely where ever they want. The rules are that we are not permitted to get closer than 2 m to any of the animals. They are not afraid of us at all, even the tiniest birds come very close . Back on the bus we drive to our hotel and get an orientation drive around the town
to help get our bearings.
Our hotel is Casa da Judy and is a small boutique hotel. We all have rooms with views to the ocean.
Once unpacked for our 2 night stay we head off to walk into the little town. Along the pier we see red crabs, marine iguanas, land iguanas, sea lions, pelicans, and lastly black tip reef sharks. We have ticked off all the expected wildlife in one afternoon.
We bump into Mike and Jacque from our group and have dinner with them in a street which is closed off and the tables are set out on the street and the seafood is cooked fresh.
Tomorrow we will go by boat to a place where we can swim and snorkel.
Such a relaxed pace here on the islands.
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