Galapagos, 4 - 15 November 2016

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Last day in the Galapagos, and what a way to end our cruise!  We began the day by taking a zodiac to Puerto Ayoyra.

In 1959, the Ecuadorian government declared all the islands, except areas already colonized, as a national park.  In the same year, the Charles Darwin Foundation was founded to promote scientific research and ensure the conservation of the Galapagos.  In 1992, the waters surrounding the Galapagos were declared a marine reserve. Upon our arrival at Puerto Ayoyra, we boarded a bus which took us to within a mile of the Darwin Center to see the large tortoises.

However, along the way, we greeted several land iguanas who seemed to own the road.  The cars and pedestrians had to navigate around them!

It was truly exciting to reach the Darwin Center to see the famous tortoises!

Now, the above tortoise isn't just an ordinary tortoise, it is George, AKA Super Diego.  The Galapagos tortoise population had dwindled down to just a handful, mainly females, with fears that these creatures would become extinct.  The Ecuadorian researchers located George, in the San Diego Zoo, who was then promptly transported to the Galapagos Islands!  Within a year, the tortoise population grew, and grew, and grew!  George obviously takes his job very seriously.  Job well done, George.  Another interesting fact about these creatures, is that the female buries her eggs to a specific depth which determines the gender of the babies.  The eggs buried deep in the sand, cooler nests, are all males, while the warmer nests produce females.  The mother intuitively knows which gender is most needed within the community!

While waiting for our bus, we were treated to another unplanned excursion, the local fish market!  The fishing boats dock at this local spot, bringing in their fish of every color and size, while the workers clean the fish, hand them to the folks who weigh and then immediately sell the final product.  BUT, you must notice all the other activity - pelicans swarming and swooping to snatch the "extras", a local sea lion begging for his share, and of course the "topless" worker!

My oh my, what a field day our US Health Inspectors would have at this place!  My favorite scene was a sea lion who appeared from nowhere, quickly snatched a fish that someone had dropped, flipped it back into the water, and then swiftly dived in for lunch!

After the Darwin Center we rode the bus to our next activity in support of the Galapagos Conservation and Community, as Celebrity Cruise Lines' guests are encouraged to make a difference.  How?  By planting a Scalesia sapling to restore the forests which had become sparse due to invasive or non-native species being introduced into the area. (Now the spraying of our airplane bins makes more sense!)  The largest remaining forest of Scalesia pedunculata is located on Santa Cruz.  So, we planted our trees, which came with identification numbers that we can track on Google Earth!  Rob's comment, "It's the first green thing I've ever done." Suppose you could say that we reduced our carbon footprint while in the Galapagos!

Back on the bus, we traveled to a local highlands ranch for a delicious buffet lunch, as well as entertainment provided by local kids!

Naturally, the teacher in me absolutely loved this!

Rob decided to go back to the ship with his appointed babysitters - Kathy, Ed, Bonnie, Billy, Sandy, and Robert - lovely folks we've befriended on this cruise!  I opted to take a hike through the tortoise preserve. OMG - these guys are even bigger when up close and personal!

Back downtown, I strolled along the streets, stopped for a quick email update at a local Internet Café, and eventually zodiac'd (is that a word?) back to our Celebrity Xpedition.

Our Captain's Farewell Cocktail was extra special as we were treated to a slideshow featuring the Naturalists' best pictures of the cruise.  Even better, every guest was given a CD of these amazing pictures.  Now, I must admit that I was fairly proud of my pictures, UNTIL I saw the results of their trained eyes and high powered camera lenses.  AMAZING!  While I'm very sad to see this cruise end, I know that I'll enjoy their pictures and my memories for a life time!