Our next day trip was to South Plaza Island. The island has lots of iguanas. Just like the sea lions, the iguanas don't have any fear of tourists.
Here are a few more photos from South Plaza Island.
We also visited Bartolome Island. The island is an extinct volcano. It's a very picturesque place.
There isn't as much wildlife on Bartolome Island as on the other Galapagos islands but we still saw some very cool stuff.
On our last day in Galapagos, we toured the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. They do research to support preservation of the Galapagos Islands. One of their programs is raising baby giant tortoises and then releasing them into areas of the Galapagos where their numbers have declined.
The little tortoises grow slowly. They reach adulthood at 30 years and they can live as long as 175 years.
The most well-known adult at the research station is Lonesome George. He is the last Pinta Island Tortoise, a subspecies of giant tortoises. They have been trying to get George to mate with females of other subspecies of tortoise. No luck so far - George hasn't met the girl of his dreams yet.
After the visit to the research station, it was off to the airport for a flight to the mainland.
Our five days on the Galapagos Islands were amazing and one of our favourite parts of our trip so far. We'll definitely be back - there are fourteen more islands in the Galapagos for us to explore.
Vanessa and Blake
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| Us with a Galapagos Land Iguana |
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| Iguanas always have the right-of-way |
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| Iguana munching on a piece of cactus - their favourite food |
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| A closer look |
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| Charles Darwin called these iguanas "ugly" |
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| Galapagos Marine Iguana having a nap before heading back out to the water |
Here are a few more photos from South Plaza Island.
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| More sea lions posing for photos |
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| Bachelor males sleep on high cliffs on the far side of the island |
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| Ground cover is red and orange in dry season; changes to green in rainy season |
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| Colourful crabs |
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| Day ended with a hour of snorkeling |
We also visited Bartolome Island. The island is an extinct volcano. It's a very picturesque place.
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| The island |
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| View from the top |
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| Pinnacle Rock |
There isn't as much wildlife on Bartolome Island as on the other Galapagos islands but we still saw some very cool stuff.
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| Galapagos Hawk floating above us |
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| Hawk decides he's going to come down for a visit |
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| Posing for a photo |
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| We had to step over this sea lion to get to our boat - he didn't wake up |
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| Galapagos Penguin - he's not lost, he's a permanent resident |
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| We were going to take this photo in the water until a very big shark swam by |
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| We saw lots of dolphins jumping on our trip home |
On our last day in Galapagos, we toured the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. They do research to support preservation of the Galapagos Islands. One of their programs is raising baby giant tortoises and then releasing them into areas of the Galapagos where their numbers have declined.
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| These babies are about a year old and only 10 cm long |
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| They're very cute |
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| Having a drink |
The little tortoises grow slowly. They reach adulthood at 30 years and they can live as long as 175 years.
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| Adults can weigh 400 kg (almost 900 pounds) |
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| Yawning |
The most well-known adult at the research station is Lonesome George. He is the last Pinta Island Tortoise, a subspecies of giant tortoises. They have been trying to get George to mate with females of other subspecies of tortoise. No luck so far - George hasn't met the girl of his dreams yet.
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| George was looking really depressed when we walked by |
After the visit to the research station, it was off to the airport for a flight to the mainland.
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| Modelling our Galapagos souvenir t-shirts |
Our five days on the Galapagos Islands were amazing and one of our favourite parts of our trip so far. We'll definitely be back - there are fourteen more islands in the Galapagos for us to explore.
Vanessa and Blake
