We rode the pangas to the city's main pier in the harbor. Puerto Ayora has about 13,000 people in the general area, including the hilly areas nearby (and those who are likely here illegally). The weather was warm at this point and very humid -- definitely not what we had gotten used to. We then had a short bus ride to the entrance to the center, followed by a short walk.
The center was very interesting and we sure learned a lot about giant tortoises. A main attraction here is "Lonesome George" (Solitario George in Spanish), a stuffed giant tortoise, who was captured and displayed here while he was alive -- very popular. He was also the last of his breed. He was not the largest tortoise, but he was the favorite for some reason.
We saw many cacti on the way in, including candelabra and prickly pear, the two types here in the Galapagos. Our guide, Javier, tells us that the land tortoises are predators of the cacti.
The Darwin Center is also a "centro de crianza," as a sign indicates, which Javier translated as breeding center.
Four different species are bred here; seven of the eleven total types are in captivity here. The researchers collect the eggs during the breeding season and bring them all here. The eggs, otherwise, are preyed on by introduced species, most notably rats. After hatching, the tortoises are kept here until they are five years old, then released. There were several areas where we could observe the small tortoises at various ages. The gender of the tortoise cannot be observed until they are 10-15 years old. They become sexually active at age 25-30. Interestingly, the gender of the tortoise is determined by the temperature of the incubator. Warmer temperatures produce females. Even here, we were told, the tortoises are in danger. Protective screening is placed over their enclosures at night to protect the young tortoises from rats!
Tortoises are not social, and they are not particularly aggressive. A contest may consist of who can stretch his neck out farther than the other -- then the contest is over!
In the "old" days, sailors prized the tortoises for food. They could collect hundreds of giant tortoises, which could survive on the ship for a year without food or water. Then, when you needed meat, you just killed one and ate it -- still fresh! No refrigeration needed! The tortoises weigh anywhere from 250-500 pounds. The males are larger than the females. Most of the tortoises taken by the sailors were smaller since they could be more easily carried (two men can carry 250 pounds, apparently).
One cannot tell the age of a tortoise once they become adults, so no one really knows how long they live. Beginning in the 1970's the Darwin Center began putting tracking chips in the tortoises that they bred, so at some point in the far future, better information will be available. Darwin brought a tortoise from the Galapagos to Australia during his travels in 1835. This tortoise lived until 2005!
Another favorite tortoise here (still alive) is Diego. He is a saddle-backed tortoise (name based on the shape of his shell). He has been at the center since 1977.
Before we left the center we did see an enclosed land iguana and a group of male dome shaped tortoises, which were very clumsy and climbing on each other. I took a nice video.
After we left we had the opportunity to stop in a few shops including the Darwin Center gift shop, where we bought some souvenir t-shirts. We also stopped at a shop in town to buy a blue footed boobie Christmas ornament!
Our next activity was to reboard the buses (two small ones for tight roads) to visit a privately owned ranch, where we would be able to view giant tortoises in the wild. We made a quick pit stop on the way so that our guide could pick up her favorite Galapagos coffee in a small town called Bella Vista. When we arrived, we were met with a snack of passionfruit juice or lemongrass tea served with a small cheese empanada and some fresh fruit -- very good! The name of the ranch is Rancho Manzanillo.
We saw giant tortoises up close and learned that they have no teeth and are herbivores.
Anne bought us a lovely postcard of some blue footed boobies (prompting a repeat of last night's dance).
Then it was time to return to the ship -- spotting a groove billed ani bird on the way out (not a native bird).
When we returned to the ship, it was time for Rob and Roy's farewell lunch. We would be leaving the ship this afternoon in order to begin our Peruvian portion of our vacation. The other passengers would stay on the ship for two more days. We ate with our new friends Marion and Anne and had sauvignon blanc to toast our lovely week. A lovely whole red snapper was prepared for lunch, and it was delicious! That afternoon, the others were transported back to Puerto Ayora for some afternoon shopping, while we waited for our transport to our hotel (also in Puerto Ayora).
There seemed to be a lack of communication regarding our transfer to Puerto Ayora, but Javier, the lead guide, contacted the Angermyer Hotel where we would be staying to arrange a transfer there at about 3:30 PM. The Angermyer can only be reached via boat (really -- no road), so we were dropped off at the public dock next to the inn. Javier also volunteered to send a panga at 7 PM that evening to take us to our dinner reservation in town, but we declined and said we could arrange our own transportation. This seemed to surprise him a little, but we really didn't want to be a burden (after all water taxis in Puerto Ayora only cost $0.80 per person, $1.00 after dark). Then it was good-bye to the ship.
We were met at the pier by a very nice young woman who provided our check-in information and some sort of green juice drink. We explained to her that we had not heard from a representative of our travel agency (Abercrombie & Kent) to explain to us the plans for dinner tonight or transportation to the airport tomorrow (we did not even have any tickets for our flight to Quito!). She offered to call the agency (she had been provided a number when the hotel reservation had been made), but unfortunately she was only able to leave a message and await a call back. To make a long story short: after calls by the hotel, some cell phone troubles on our part (which we ultimately resolved), and a communication from the A&K representative in Ecuador, we learned that we had dinner reservations in town at 7 PM at a place called Giardino's and that a person named Jonathan would be coming to the hotel tomorrow at 9:45 AM to take us to the airport. We were also given the flight information. We were disappointed in the communication related to this "hand-off." We believed that the person named Jonathan should have contacted the ship and us today to explain what we should expect to happen tomorrow, rather than putting the burden of finding out what would happen on us. Oh well, it seemed everything would be okay, anyway.
After all of this angst, we were finally able to step back and admire our lovely hotel room, named the "Southern Cross." It was fabulous: very large, high ceilings, luxury bathroom (though stingy on the towels), and a lovely terrace sitting on the top floor with views to the entire harbor and the town.
We then showered and took a water taxi, really more of a water "bus," into town. Our former shipmates have long returned to the ship -- we had watched the pangas bring them back to the Xperience from our terrace. Our first stop in town was a pharmacy for bug cream. The receptionist at the hotel had warned us of the mosquitoes. Then we strolled the length of Darwin Avenue, which is lined with souvenir shops. At the end is an art gallery, where we finally found what we had been looking for: a nicer carved blue footed boobie knickknack (all the shops had them, but most looked pretty cheap), so we bought it and then strolled back. We passed by the fish market and the Hotel Sol y Mar, which had been our other hotel choice (on the harbor, swimming pool occupied by sea lions, no thanks).
With a name like Giardino's, we had expected an Italian restaurant, perhaps, but this place was more like Mexican food. I guess the name just means "garden." Since we had arrived very early, we had some wine near (not in) the bar area, which was full. We then proceeded upstairs to the open air dining room for dinner. Rob started with coconut shrimp, and I had ceviche, which was too large a portion, which I did not finish, even though it was good. For mains, Rob had teriyaki tuna, and I had fish and rice in the same yellow coconut sauce that Rob's shrimp had been served with. It was good. Although we had though dinner was to be on A&K's tab, we were informed that A&K would be paying $52, and the rest was "on us." A&K's amount covered about on half of the bill. We had finished our meal and were ready to leave anyway, bu dinner came to an abrupt end when four men at the table next to us all lit up cigarettes -- time to go! The rules are different here, apparently.
After dinner, we returned to the hotel via water taxi (in the dark) and then retired. After having gone several days on the ship without television (nice flat screen TV in the cabin that never seemed to have any reception), we were disappointed to learn that the television choices in our hotel room had no channels in English. Of 71 channels available, two were in French, one in Russian, the rest in Spanish.
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