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American Spirit II - Da;y 45; Land Tour of San Cristobal; Monday, February 17, 2014



Awakened at 5:45 AM by a 'domestic' sea lion linguistic event. A sea lion was lying on our transom, and and another one had hopped up and was verbally trying to get the other one to leave. When I confronted him, he was 'standing up' looking at me thru the aft lifeline. He snorted and hopped overboard. Problem solved. Back to bed.

Got up at 8:00 AM and observed 2 sea lions laying on transom, snug as can be. An adult and a juvenile. When they saw us, they would raise their head to look, then close their eyes and go back to sleep.

We took a land tour from 10:15 AM - 1:30 PM with Carlos. We went first to Laguna el Junco, a small lake that is 650 meters in elevation and is actually a lake or lagoon inside of an extinct volcanic crater or caldera. When we got there visibility was almost zero, as the clouds covered the mountain top. After a long hike up to the top of the crater, and after waiting for 10 or 15 minutes, we were finally able to see the water in the lagoon. The accumulated water is the largest source of water in the entire Galapagos Islands, even though its only 6 meters deep and 270 or so meters across. Joel was the only one brave enough to hike down to the waters edge. The soil was covered with clay and wet vegetation, a perfect slip scenario. I followed Joel and while traversing a hair pin, downward turn, my feet and gravity had the better of me and I went flying. Before impact, I let go of my camera, hurtling it into a landing zone of soft ferns. Though I had a substantial amount of clay soiling my shorts arm and let, there was no bodily damage. It took me a few minutes to find the camera in the ferns. After 'dusting' myself off, I headed back up the trail to safer grounds.

Our second stop was at Galapaguera Cerro Colorado, a tortoise breeding center. There we observed really tiny tortoises, then juveniles, then adults. The breeding area covered 12 hectares (24 football fields?). The adults were being fed some sort of leafy food. It was interesting watching them eat, and competing for the abundant food. A few times a large male tortoise would try to intimidate a smaller one so that he could take his food. Even though there was food enough for all the tortoises present. A 'bully' if you will. These tortoises were quite large, with shells 3 to 4 feet in diameter.

Our last stop was to a beach area with an elevated, cliff type point next to it, called Puerto Grande, I think. There we saw some blue-footed boobies. These marine birds are quite a hit in the Galapagos, with every store in the islands selling T-shirts with "I Love Boobies" on them and a picture of two birds with their blue feet located on the chest area of the shirt.

Once back at the boat it was siesta time, followed by a 5:30 PM happy hour at the Hotel Monica. Dinner was at Calypso Pizza, where we dined with Martin and Elizabeth from the boat Caduceus from England. The service and food were way above average.

Brian Fox


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