We visit the giant tortoises for which the archipelago is named on the island of Santa Cruz. Only four islands in the Galapagos are inhabited by humans, and Santa Cruz Island is home to about 20,000 people. The tortoises roam freely in a huge nature preserve in the highlands.
Our previous days have all been volcanic deserts and coastal wanderings. Today we zodiac to the pier and board a van with a naturalist head for the tropical (rainy) highlands. From the van, I start snapping pictures of road-side tortugas. (Spanish has one word for turtle, tortoise and terrapins, which is much easier to type.) I eventually delete all those blurry shots because we are able to walk among them later.
In other activities on other days, we encounter more Blue Footed Boobies, more zodiac rides and more fine dining.
Hasta mañana, quizás.