Tortuga
The goal for our last full day on the island was to see one more beach and find more tortoises. On the drive to Playa El Garrapatero the tortoises were in the road. We obviously stopped to check them out. The wild tortoises are protected heavily and anyone who drives on the island obeys strict speed limits to ensure the tortoises are not hit, or worse killed. Hitting/killing a tortoise incurs heavy penalties and up to 3 years in prison. At the beach we could see a sea turtle close to shore but the rocky shoreline made it nearly impossible to get into the surf.
After some time on the beach we headed off to Los Gemelos which are the caved-in craters of volcanoes. The walk through the forest was quiet and serene, the birds flitted about and the light rain made for a cool experience. After the little hike we were taken to a lava tunnel that we were able to walk through. The tunnel is huge and imagining it full of magma made me feel very small and insignificant. The main destination for the day was Rancho Primicias, a private ranch conserving wild tortoise habitat.
The tortoises are free to roam the ranch without boundaries. They come and go depending on the time of year. The guide taught us a little more about them. The older they get the smoother their shells get and they estimate that some of the tortoises at the ranch are well over 100 years old. We decided to go back to the Charles Darwin station just to explore a little more and check out some of the buildings that we missed the first time. The trip was winding to a close. The next morning we went back to the docks to watch the sun rise and the birds diving in for their breakfast. We took the cab to the northern point of the island. A quick eight minute ferry ride to Isla Baltra and a bus to the small airport and our flight back to the mainland.
Back on the mainland we stayed at Genesis’ cousin's house in Quito. The house was beautiful and we spent time with her family and had tea and cheese and bread as an after dinner snack. The next morning I spent out on the back porch enjoying the quiet, updating my journal notes and watching the hummingbirds fly in and out of the backyard. A nice relaxing way to end the trip.