Monday 5 February
Our excursion this morning was to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. We were surprised how lush and tropical it was.
And how built up. The population of the Galapagos is 35 000. Puerto Ayora has loads of tourist restaurants,shops and guest houses.
Charles Darwin Research Station has a breeding program for giant tortoises.
They are kept in captivity until they are 10 years old and then released back into the wild.
As everywhere, human dessimation of natural species and habitats brought species to extinction or virtual extinction in the Galapagos. Conservation efforts since the second half of the 20th century have been mixed. Tourism seems well managed.
We watched juvenile brown pelicans hunting in the harbour.
In the afternoon I went snorkelling with our group. Lots of fish species, rays and dozens of white-tipped reef sharks. And the water is really warm. 28°C.
We couldn't land the zodiacs on the beach this afternoon because the waves were too big so we did some birds watching from the water.
Our routine is sunset drinks on the boat followed by dinner and an early night.
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