Days of the Iguanas

Our free day in Puerto Ayora began with special Phil omelets in bed, as all free days should. When we were rested and fed, we took a taxi to the Galapagos Tortoise Reserve. We met a bunch (school? murder?) of tortoises there, one of which was 140 years old. At the reserve we walked through lava tunnels, which were like caves but not as scary. 

Later we grew experimental and had Blue Booby margaritas, which were better than they look, and we shared a fried scorpion fish, also better than it looks.

We started out early for our excursion the next morning. Different guide, similar bus to the same canal, a dinghy better designed for the aged and infirm, and a rather luxurious boat. Although our tour company had told us we were going back to the biting fly beach, which irked me, they were wrong. We got to snorkel off the boat, and oh reader, it was magical. We saw a shark, a green turtle, enormous schools of tiny silver fish that flashed in the sun as we swam through them, fish of all colors and sizes. Just spectacular.

We had a tasty lunch and set out for South Plazas Island. There we were greeted by many many adorable baby sea lions cavorting in the waves and somehow not being smashed to bits on the black lava rocks.

We walked around the island, uninhabited but for iguanas, other lizards,  and so so many birds. We saw  swallowtail gulls having sex, and tropicbirds, which we mocked Ben for identifying because the name was so dumb (oh look! There’s a tundra fox! Hey, a deciduous rabbit!). But of course he was right.

Our guide pointed out the cactuses growing in fenced off plots and explained that the cactuses were threatened because there were too many iguanas eating them because the Galapagos hawk no longer flew there and ate the iguanas because people had settled there with cats and dogs that interrupted the hawks’ flight patterns. Ah, the delicate balance of nature! And we are the bad guys, as usual.

Ninety minutes back to the harbor, beer, rest, exotic cocktails, and dinner. We walked out on the pier to watch baby black-tipped sharks swimming in large numbers in the blue light below. Then early to bed in preparation for our morning flight to Quito.