Isabella Island: Giant Tortoises

Isabella is the home of several subspecies of giant Tortoises. It is also home to one of the settled communities in the Galapagos. The pet dogs & cats are threatening the continued existence of the giant tortoises because they attack baby tortoises. For these reasons, there is an ecological preserve that functions as a 'hatchery' for the giant tortoises.

Our guide was a very enthusiastic Galapagos native who took great pride in Ecuador's efforts to protect the giant tortoises. In the photo he is holding a tortoise egg and the assistant is holding a 4 month old baby tortoise. They collect the eggs & put them in incubators, adjusting the temperature to produce more female tortoises than males. Tortoise gender is apparently determined by the incubating heat and warmer temps produce more females than males. The difference is only about 2 degrees. They are producing more females because of the population decline and they need fewer males to impregnate many females. They keep the small babies in wire cages so that predators cannot eat them before they grow up.

This preserve also has injured tortoises. The one pictures was burned in a fire on Isabella a number of years ago. The scars on the carapace are permanent.

Isabella Island - marine iguanas & penguins

Finally, with the swimming meets over, our focus turned to the fantastic animals of the Galapagos. For many of us, this was the main reason for this trip. Meeting other swimmers, competing, eating & drinking & dancing w/people from our host country was not why many of us came to Ecuador (although that was fun too). The real reason was to see what Darwin saw, to see living examples of evolution in action! And it was worth the wait.

On a day-long trip by boat to Isabella Island we saw was many of the animals that make the Galapagos so interesting.

Once we landed on Isabella (2 1/2 hour boat ride) we walked (bus didn't show up!) into town and were taken to an open-air restaurant for breakfast.  This was apparently included in the tour.  The restaurant was clearly trying to please our american taste buds but it wasn't quite on the mark.  Very good food, but not exactly typical fare for Californians.  Good, though.  

We saw marine iguanas - black ocean-going creatures that look very like minature dinasauers. Looking very fierce, they are actually not very aggressive towards or bothered by humans, typical of many of the animals on the Galapagos. The marine iguanas were easy to see as well, being cold-blooded they spent much of their time warming up on black rocks before diving back into the cool ocean to find food.

The penguins which winter in the Galapagos had arrived in time for our visit (they knew we were coming!). They are the northern-most penguins in the world, swimming up from anarctica every winter (which starts in June in the Southern Hemisphere). Our boat didn't get up close to the penguins so the photo of them was taken at some distance. But still, it was nice to see them!

A baby sea lion was very curious about us too. Of course, we have sea lions in California but it was fun to watch it play for our attention!

First Open water swim Galapagos History!

Our club, together with Ecuadorian clubs organized the first ever open water swim in the Galapagos. OK, admittedly, it was in the bay at Porta Ayorta so not a rough water swim at all. It was however my FIRST open water swim and perhaps my last! I do prefer swimming pools! The salty water was awful & I gagged but quickly switched to backstroke, my best stroke and one that kept my mouth & nose out of the water.

There was a swarm/school of tiny jellyfish (what is a collection of jelly fish called??? Herd? Mob? School?) and those who swam the longer distance (5K) were stung a lot. The antidote to stinging welts was vinegar!! The coach sent someone across the street to the local store to get a bottle. It quickly ended the stinging.

Those of us who swam the shorter distance (2k) were apparently on the edge of the Jellyfish swarm and only a few of us experiences stings, and minor ones at that.

We used water taxis to take us out to the starting point in the bay (see picture above) and then we jumped off the boat & lined up (roughly) and the Ecuadorian official blew the start whistle. Then we tried to find our way into the dock. Since it was my first open water swim, I had no experience 'sighting' so I repeatedly went off course. Eventually Nancy, a terrific person, and I swam together and finished together. The second picture is of me as I am swimming free style to reach the dock. The 5K swimmers were on the dock taking pictures & yelling encouragement. It was almost fun.

Hotel in Galapagos

Our hotel was very modest, to say the least.  Funky would also serve as a description.  It appeared to be a house that was converted into a hotel, with rooms added on here & there.  My two roommates and I had a nice airy room with screens where the window glass might have been.  It featured a large painting that we all became very fond of (see the picture above).  

The room was intended for 4 people and had one small bathroom with no hot water.  On our next-to-last day our hostess (who lived there & ran the hotel with her mother), was 'shocked' to hear that we didn't have hot water.  She tried to fix it (it was 'on-demand' rather than coming from a hot water heater) but it didn't seem to make any difference.  The weather was warm enough that it didn't matter much anyway.  The beds were aligned so we could talk at night if we wanted.  My roommates were terrific and we had several nice 'happy hours' drinking the wine Morgana had the foresight to bring from Guayaquil!  

Galapagos & giant tortoise Farm

We landed on Baltra, a former WWII base for America and currently one of the Airports located in the Galapagos. The airport was nice, open-aired so the wind breezed thru the airport. We paid our $100 admission fee to the Galapagos National Park and were taken to the ferry that took us across a strait to the Island of Santa Cruz.

Instead of going straight to our hotel, we immediately were taken to see the highlands of Santa Cruz, which are not high by California standards. Rain and mist wafted over us as we viewed the sights. It was amazing to go from the humid air port, to the rainy highlands, in a matter of 45 minutes or so.

The giant tortoise farm had giant tortoises wandering loose around a larged fenced area (several acres). Before finding any tortoises, we encountered scat, giant scat as might be expected from a giant tortoise. It was in fact giant tortoise poop. Shortly after encountering the scat, we saw the source. One of my roomates and I are pictured with our first giant tortoise.

Off to the Galapagos!

With the first swimming meet out of the way, we are finally on our way to Galapagos, the main reason for the trip (for most of us). Several of us, desperate for a good cup of coffee, walked over to a more expensive hotel than our own and got real, brewed coffee before catching our early morning flight. As the picture shows, despite the early hour, we were happy with our coffee!

Winning Relay

One of the advantages of being an older swimmer is outliving the competition! Since only two ecuadorian women over the age of 55 were competing, the DAM 55+ women won the 4x100 relay. Although 3 of us are 60+, we had to compete in the age group of our youngest swimmer, Nancy. Pictured are Betty, Nancy, Leslie & Me.