San Cristobal, Galapagos

We took a 25 minute flight to our last island, San Cristobal.

San Cristobal is the easternmost island, the oldest geographically, and is the location of the capital of the archipelago, Puerto Baquerizo Mereno.

We stayed at Casa Iguana Mar Y Sol

There are sea lions everywhere!

Only controlled crossing on Isabela Island

Watch out, there are lots of iguanas on this island!

Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre

We missed seeing the Charles Darwin Tortoise Breeding Centre on  Santa Cruz so couldn't miss  the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre on Isabela which is just about 1 mile from Puerto Villamil.

These tortoises are the largest on the planet and can grow up to 800 lbs. These breeding centres are a valuable asset to the Galapagos as they attempt to encourage breeding and release these large creatures back into the wild. Their numbers have decreased from 1/4 million to 3000 since sailors and early settlers came to see them as food. These majestic animals can be easily approached and grabbed. Because they live for weeks or months without food or water, they could easily live in the hold of a ship for long periods of time.

There were 11 species of Galapagos Giant Tortoise until Lonesome George died on June 24, 2012. Now there are 10 species. Isabela has 5 distinct species that have developed due to the volcanic nature of the island. Each volcano has its own species.

At this breeding centre feeding happens 3 times a week and we were lucky enough to be there on a feeding day.

Smallest tortoise we saw

We also caught sight of some tortoise lovin'.

Las Tintoreras tour, Isabela Island

A naturalist guide took us on a half day tour to Las Tintoreras, a small island about 10 minutes by boat from Puerto Villamil. The first thing we saw along the way were penguins and sea lions taking advantage of an abandoned boat.

We walked around the island, mostly made up of A'a' lava type.

This is the main breeding site for marine iguanas and there had recently been a hatch and the juveniles were everywhere. They don't move around much and spend most of their time soaking up the warmth of the sun.

There were black sand beaches and heron.

The birds and animals co-existed as you can see here. Look under the brush to see a sea lion. Click on any picture in this blog to make the picture larger.

The Sally Lightfoot crabs stood out with their bright red shells. They are amazingly agile and can hop from rock to rock.

On the island is a narrow lava canal where white-tipped sharks can be seen resting.

The water is crystal clear and the sharks are easy to see and watch. They are a non-agressive reef shark.

You can't snorkel here but we did have an opportunity at the end of the tour. As I said, I am not a strong swimmer and so our guide towed me along. I can't believe anyone can swim that fast! 

My favourite snorkeling spot

We went on a snorkelling tour to Los Tuneles about one hour by boat from Puerto Villamil. On our way we first saw penguins.

Our first penguin sighting

The full day tour cost us 90.00USD per person and was well worth it. This was my favourite excursion!

To get to this site the boat had to wait on the other side of the crashing breakers until just the right time before we surfed it. Not all boats or captains are able to do this. It took very special skill and it was very exciting just getting here and then when we arrived....wow!!

Los Tuneles, the tunnels, are naturally occurring underwater stone tunnels that are the remainder of lava tubes. Above water you can see and walk on the lava bridges.

Blue-footed boogie on a nest

The water is clear, calm, and shallow so we were able to see many sea turtles and when we finally went into the water, we were able to swim with them.

We went into the water off the boat, which was a new adventure for me. I am not a strong swimmer, nor a good snorkeler, but it was so easy to float along through the canals and watch the brightly coloured fish in what seemed like an aquarium. We also saw white tip sharks resting in underwater caves.

Excellent tour that I would highly recommend!

Sea turtle visible through the clear water

Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island, Galapagos

 The Isla Isabela brochure describes Puerto Villamil as "the last natural paradise of the Galapagos archipelago. Sandy streets and swaying palm trees will allow you to relax completely and enjoy the peace and harmony of the island's spectacular nature."

A speed bump on the road.

The benches are already spoken for.

We stayed at La Casa de Marita and this was our patio and view from our room.

The port was just a short walk from our hotel.

We stumbled on this little gem and were sorry that we didn't have time to swim with the sea lions.
Just a short walk down the path through the mangrove to a little bit of snorkelling paradise.