Sunday, February 5, 2017, Giant Tortoises in the Wild

After breakfast, the Zodiacs took us and our carry-on luggage to the dock at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. We boarded a bus to a private farm and natural tortoise reserve called El Chato Ranch, where we could observe Galapagos tortoises in their natural habitat. We were not disappointed – there were tortoises in abundance. We also found, in shady areas, a round white fungus growing up like a flower out of green ground cover.

Tortoises were gathered in large groups at water holes. We saw one large male attempting to mate with a small female, and we all felt sorry for the female. We saw one tortoise walking down the gravel-paved path. As we left the reserve, the Germans all shouted “Stop, stop,” as we drove past a sign that said “Stop, tortoise crossing.” We stopped to take a picture of the sign. The bus drove us to an ancient ferry boat that ran from Santa Cruz Island to Baltra Island, the site of a World War II air base that has been converted to a modern airport. The ferry, with a capacity of 66 people, carried about 90 of us. Fortunately, life jackets were provided, but were not necessary.

We were met at Quito airport by our former driver, Jorge, and by our new guide, Alexandra. We loaded into Jorge’s van, which took us two hours north to the Karanki community at the village of La Magdalena, near Ibarra. We arrived at about 6:00 p.m. to be met by Selso and Sylvia, our hosts. Selso ran down the hill to meet us at the intersection nearest the house and rode the rest of the way with us.

Sylvia and Selso own a three-bedroom house adjoining their own house that they rent out to tourists such as us. The house includes a modern kitchen, a large dining room, a room with a wood fireplace, and – best of all – three en suite bathrooms. The house is about six years old and is made of adobe, which was especially interesting to Sarah and Mark because of their adobe house in Arizona.

Sylvia and her younger sister, Josette, along with their mother, Rosa, cooked us a nice dinner of peas, fried potatoes and fried tilapia. Dinner was preceded by a delicious fruit juice served warm and laced with locally-distilled cane liquor. We learned later that a lot of fruit juice is consumed in this country.

After dinner we had a delightful conversation with Selso, translated by Beth, whose Spanish translation skills were awesome. Selso’s native language is Quichua, so he learned Spanish in school, which made him easier for me to understand. Sylvia handed out hot water bottles for us to put in our beds. Later they would feel really good in the cool mountain air.