We slept great and had no reason to wake-up early as we had no scheduled snorkel trips, no ferry/speedboat to meet, and the Internet was better so Suzanne could teach at a more normal time.
Pedro made us eggs to order for breakfast, along with cheese, toast, fruit, etc...
This is the sitting/breakfast area of the B & B.
He then helped us arrange a taxi to take us to Rancho Primicias, a private giant tortoise reserve about 30-minutes up-island. While on the drive to the reserve, we saw our first tortoise....
At Rancho Primicias, tortoises live in a 100% natural environment - they eat what they forage - no food is provided...
....dig water holes in which to cool themselves.....no water is provided.....
.....reproduce when they desire.....this is not a breeding ground
As 97% of the Galapagos Islands is a national park, there is a fence separating the national park land from the 3% that is inhabited. (It is difficult to see in the picture as it's just a few wires so the tortoises can come-and-go as they please.)
Yes, this guy is alive - over 100 years is estimated - and weighs quite a bit! 😀
Here he is just takin' a stroll.....
The rings on the tortoise's shell are comparable to the rings on a tree - it shows the age of the tortoise...
There was also a very cool skeleton of a tortoise....
After our tour of the reserve, our driver picked us up and took us to a mile long lava tube. Meh. At least it was cool.
The driver then brought us back to our hotel and we grabbed some lunch. Lunches could often be found for about $5 - $7. Some pictures of the town as we looked for a restaurant.....
We had heard of a place called Las Grietas to go snorkeling and swimming, so we grabbed our swim suits and snorkel gear and hopped on another water taxi......
....and took a lovely mile or so walk to Las Grietas....
However when we got to Las Grietas, it was actually a 45-minute walking tour followed by a 45-minute allotted snorkel time for $10 per person. All we wanted to do was swim and snorkel, so we bagged it and went back to a small area called Finch Bay where we saw people swimming and joined in the fun.
So here is the "interesting" thing we discovered about Las Grietas - the national park states that people can only go into the area with a tour guide to limit the number of visitors each day, and they charge $10 per person. Okay - we get that. We even get that all non-Ecuadorians have to pay $100 per person to enter the Galapagos (Ecuadorians pay $6 per person) - make the money off the tourists, sure, okay, we get that too. However....if someone is from Ecuador, then they do not have to go with a tour guide nor pay the $10 nor adhere to the time limit, so then the logic/reason of needing a tour guide is nullified. This was our first, and unfortunately not last, time that we felt some discrepancies in the way things are done in the Galapagos. Same with the $1 we each had to pay to get on the island. Sure, it's only $1, but we did already pay $100 each to enter the Galapagos.......
We took another water taxi back to town, grabbed showers, had pizza for dinner (just okay), and got more money from the ATM which took way less time now that we understand the Spanish translations! 😂
It was a lovely evening with people on the streets, kids playing, families and kids swimming, chess boards set-up, lots of socializing....
...and suddenly there loud music and a parade of people carrying crosses....it was Good Friday and Ecuador is a Catholic country.
No comments:
Post a Comment