Galapagos Islands: Days 8-12

On Santa Cruz Island, we biked up the mountain to visit a coffee plantation before heading on to a lovely lookout point and a pit crater, and eventually all the way down to the beach of Garrapatero. We parted with the group and spent our remaining four days on San Cristobal Island: explored the town and wharf, the Interpretation Center and on to Cerro Las Tijeretas and Darwin Bay. We also enjoyed a fantastic day out to Leon Dormido for snorkleing all the way around and a nice beach stopover on the way back.
image-223 image-224 image-225 image-226 Giving the old mule-powered sugar cane crusher a try... image-228 image-229 image-230 image-231
Trying Antonio's sugar cane moonshine image-233 Antonio demonstrates how the husks are separated from the dried coffee beans. image-235 Antonio demonstrating their old coffee roasting method... A minute of video from the coffee plantation visit. (17 MB) image-237 image-238 image-239
image-240 image-241 image-242 image-243 Giant Tortoise (Santa Cruz Island) The female tortoise is much smaller than the male. image-246 image-247 image-248
Yellow Warbler image-250 image-251 image-252 image-253 image-254 image-255 image-256 image-257
Ghost Crabs Flamingo We scored this awesome penthouse cupola suite at Casa Blanca in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno! image-261 image-262 image-263 image-264 Pelican and chicks Frigate Birds (two male, one female) nesting
Some poor quality video of Frigate Birds (two male, one female) image-267 image-268 image-269 image-270 image-271 Nazca Booby image-273 image-274
Blue Sea Star Spotted Eagle Rays Bullseye Puffers?? image-278 image-279 Ctenophora (Comb Jelly) Hammerhead Shark Hammerhead Shark An extended video (3 mins, 46 MB) of our snorkeling visit to Kicker Rock, including views of the rays, sharks and huge schools of fish.
Leaving Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock) image-284 Green Sea Turtle Galapagos Sea Lions image-287 Marine Iguana Marine Iguana Galapagos Sea Lion Galapagos Sea Lion (juvenile)
Some video (80 seconds, 27 MB) of the sea lions and pups around the beach and wharf. Galapagos Sea Lions Galapagos Sea Lions Galapagos Sea Lion A video (80 seconds, 26 MB) of a vicious confrontation between two sea lions, culminating in a nasty gash down the back of the loser. Galapagos Sea Lions Galapagos Sea Lions Galapagos Sea Lion (juvenile) Galapagos Sea Lion (juvenile)
Looking towards Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock) from Cerro Tijeretas (Frigatebird Hill) image-300 Charles Darwin statue at Cerro Tijeretas (Frigatebird Hill) image-302 image-303 Yellow-Crowned Night Heron You must defend your meal at all times from Darwin's mad finches! Galapagos Sea Lions Galapagos Sea Lions