Our luggage had to be outside our cabin by 6 am for pickup, and we departed the Islander for the last time at 6:30, landing on Santa Cruz Island (the second biggest in the Galapagos) after cruising on the Zodiac one last time through Itabaca Channel.
(Editor’s Note: Glen, thanks for mentioning Itabaca Channel, no doubt 95.3% of your readers know exactly where that is! Blogger: This is for the one reader out of 200 who wants to look it up.)
We bused for about 45 minutes to the highlands on the one highway that crosses the island, arriving at Rancho el Manzanillo. Going down the long dirt driveway, we spotted a couple of tortoises.
After around 7:30 am, we had breakfast in the Ranch’s outdoor covered pavilion. It’s quite the lush, green setting for the final meal of the cruise. After a tasty meal, we donned rubber boots and headed off to tramp for tortoise sightings.
I had high hopes of seeing one or two. Well, as it turns out, I set my sights too low, far too low. I didn’t count how many we saw, but it was at least 15, if not more. And you know what Jeff Farrah? Unlike eagles, tortoises move too slow, so we know weren’t seeing the same ones over and over as they moved around.
Rancho Manzillo used to be a working farm, but since it is a superhighway for tortoises, the farming bit struggled, as tortoises would either eat or trample their crops. Eventually they gave in and converted it to a tortoise sanctuary where groups like ours pay to come, eat, and walk amongst the tortoises. Pretty good move on their part I must say, and it seems to be going well.
Here’s some cool info about the Galapagos tortoises from Wikipedia:
“It is the largest living species of tortoise, with some modern Galápagos tortoises weighing up to 417 kg (919 lb). With lifespans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates. Captive Galapagos tortoises can live up to 177 years. For example, a captive individual, Harriet, lived for at least 175 years. Spanish explorers, who discovered the islands in the 16th century, named them after the Spanish galápago, meaning "tortoise".
Not quite sprinters, they hit top speeds of 0.2 mph, which means I am still fast than they are, despite my right ankle and left knee, so I’ve got that going for me.
We walked around the lush grassy area, past several lagoons with multiple tortoises, and other tortoises walking and eating the grasses. If we got too close, they would withdraw their heads as far as they could into their shells (but not their legs, no room) and make a hissing sound. Back off a bit, and their heads would come back out. Some tortoises would let us get close without that reaction, while others didn’t wait for us to get close before reacting. Since few of them were moving with regularity, it’s hard to say they would stop moving if we got close.
Many were content to hang out in the lagoons and lake. The water was fairly green and foamy, but obviously clean enough for them.
After a bit of wandering as a group, Ixora let us wander on our own. Usually I’m pretty positive, but I’m going to get a bit snippy here. Carol and I walked back the zig-zaggy way we came, because we knew there were tons of tortoises (given that 2000 pounds equals one ton, and we certainly saw at least 4000 pounds of tortoises combined, if not more, “ton of tortoises” is NOT an exaggeration, for a change).
The British woman on the trip had been a bit bossy. Okay, a lot bossy. She saw us near her group and asked if we needed help, but in that snotty way that really means, “what the hell are you doing here?” I replied in equally snotty fashion, “Oh, we’re fine. Our guide is letting our group roam a bit on our own, because she trusts us.” And, yes, I emphasized “trusts” and “us.” She made a face and moved away. It wasn’t quite as big as the battle of Yorktown, but it was an important American victory over the Brits nonetheless.
(Btw, I love Brits. Some of my faithful readers are Brits. Every country, including ours, has its glassholes as the saying goes, so this is about her not her countrymen. The Yorktown analogy was just me going for the cheap laugh. And I know at least one American who lives in Canada is chuckling over it.)
After we were done with our unsupervised time with these gentle giants, we went back to the buildings, took off our rubber boots, and got ready to bus to Itabaca Channel, ferry over to Baltra Island and bus to the airport.
While there was still more to come, our time in the Galapagos was essentially over. Highly, highly recommend taking a trip to the Galapagos just to see the variety and fearlessness of the animals. I think I like the sea birds best, but the sea lions, iguanas, fish, tortoises, and other animals are right up there with the sea birds.
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