Galapagos day 6

On Thursday, June 2 we had a lazy start to the day....breakfast was not until 7:45 am.  The yacht is anchored off shore of the capital of Santa Cruz Island, Puerto Ayora.  

We had time to relax on deck with coffee and watch a sea lion pay the yacht a visit.

When we arrive at the dock in Puerto  Ayora, we see a sea lion has found a nice bench on which to take a long nap.

We board buses and head to the highlands, where the dry coastal vegetation transitions to lush wet fields and forests overgrown with moss and lichens.  Our destination is the Tortoise Reserve where we will see the giant tortoises in the wild.

But first we have to wait while a tortoise crosses the road.

At the Tortoise Reserve,  we had to wear shoes and socks due to fire ants as we walked around the reserve seeing many giant tortoises, some 150-180 years old and weighing 500 pounds.

Rafael could "talk" to the tortoise and get him to lift his head high.

And the rest of us would try without much success...

Rafael was so excited to see a Galapagos Rail bird interacting with the tortoises.  He had never seen the 2 together and said that was the best experience of the week for him....really?  Better than the orca tossing the sea turtle a couple days before??

 And then there was this odd looking tortoise!  Must be a new species...

The lava tunnels on Santa Cruz were formed as the outer skin of molten lava solidified but the liquid magma inside continued flowing, leaving behind a series of empty tubes.  We walked through just the beginning of the tunnels

Los Gemelos (the twins) on Santa Cruz Island are two large craters that were once underground magma chambers.  When the magma chambers caved in, they left two huge impressive-looking craters now overgrown with vegetation.

Later in the afternoon, we boarded the panga once again and went into the town of Puerto Ayora, which is the economic center of the islands, so we did a little shopping.

A t-shirt design that made us laugh...

Some of us found another way to spend the afternoon....

As we were ready to head back to the yacht, there was a parade in town to celebrate the anniversary of a school.  The kids rode bikes and some wore costumes.

And then the day was done.  Time to enjoy another sunset from the deck of a yacht!

Friday is our last full day in the Galapagos and we go in search of the albatross bird....