Day 7: Galapagos Islands to Quito, Ecuador

Outside the research facility.

Today was our last day on the Galápagos Islands. I wish we were going to be here longer!  This experience has been nothing short of amazing.

Charles Darwin Research Station

We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station and their breeding center this morning.  They are probably most famous for housing the famous tortoise who passed away in 2012, Lonesome George!  He was the last of his species found on Pinta Island.  The introduction of goats into the Galápagos in the first half of the 20th century has been the primary cause of many tortoise species going extinct.  Goats can eat quite a lot, and with enough of them they can strip an area entirely of its vegetation.  Pinta Island was one of the islands affected, reducing the tortoise population down to poor Lonesome George.

In an attempt to revive the species, the Research Station tried mating George with females of a closely related species from other islands.  Unfortunately, all of their attempts were unsuccessful and no offspring were produced.  This is partly due to George not having the greatest social skills since he was the last one on his island for a very long time.

The remains of Lonesome George on display in the exhibition hall.

According to sources at the Research Station, he lived to be around 130 years old which is still relatively young for a tortoise since they can live to around 200 years.  Although he did not produce any offspring, some of his DNA was collected for future use and study.  We might not have been able to see him alive, but we did get to see his preserved remains housed at the facility in the exhibition hall.

One of the tortoises at the breeding center.

Tortoises cooling off in the water.

Much like the breeding center on Isabela Island, the Charles Darwin Research Station has all kinds of areas housing different species of tortoises from different islands.  Each island has their own subspecies of tortoise that has evolved over time and adapted to the different climates.  The breeding center tries to mimic their natural environments as much as possible by providing food and water during certain times of the day in different places.  This helps to encourage the tortoises to use their sense of smell to seek out food and water as they would in the wild.  Some of the tortoises are there for breeding and some are there because of injury or because they cannot be released into the wild.  

We toured around the different sections seeing tortoises of all ages.  The baby tortoises are all divided up by species and age with each of the holding areas labeled with what island they are from and when they were born.  The babies will stay in enclosed areas until their shells harden at around 6 years of age.  We even got to witness the slowest fight on earth between two massive tortoises.

The slowest fight I have ever seen.

Santiago Island species of tortoise bred in 2016.

One of the land iguanas.

They not only breed tortoises here, but they also promote conservation and restoration projects to protect the future of the islands as well as conduct research of all land and marine species.  One of the other species we saw on our tour was the land iguana.  These particular iguanas out that we saw had been pets and had somehow made their way to this facility to live out the rest of their days.

Climbing up into the plane on Baltra Island.

The rest of the day was spent traveling back to Quito where we will be for 2 days.  Nothing like going from an altitude of 10,000 ft to sea level and then back again to 10,000 ft all within a few days.  Flying in this time was not nearly as bad as last time though.  I hope we get the same luck leaving!

Also, I’ve never had so many empanadas in my life.  They're delicious!

Back in Quito!