After our two day delay, we hit the ground running once we arrived. The first stop was the Charles Darwin Research Station. The main attraction here is Lonesome George. He is the end of the line for the Pinta Island Tortoises. They have tried to get him to breed with other Galapagos tortoises, but no babies yet. The station also houses young turtles from multiple islands in an effort to keep them safe while they mature and then return them to the wild. They also have a large collection of other tortoises that you can wander amongst. Watch out for the droppings. Land iguanas are hard to find in the wild, but they are at the station as well.

You don’t have to look far to find multiple different lizards, blue-footed boobies, frigates or marine iguanas. We saw quite the comedy act once we returned to the small fisherman’s dock. A smart sea lion and dozens of pelicans hang out in hopes of getting an easy meal as the catch of the day is being cleaned. The sea lion acted like a dog, minus the barking. It was even training a young pup how to beg.

The next day we finally got to use our dive masks which we have been carrying around for the past two months. During our dives we saw a collection of fish, lobster, lots of starfish, white tipped sharks, a sea turtle and a silky shark. Of course we are not marine biologists, but that’s what the dive master pointed out.

We wanted to get to at least one other island, so immediately after our dive we were on a “speed boat” to Isabela. That’s the island shaped like a seahorse. After two-and-a-half hours of a bumpy, hot ride we were back wandering the streets looking for a dive shop. Puerto Villamil only has about 2,500 people and one dive shop. Three other people who had just made the crossing were also interested in diving, so we were all set for the next morning. During the second set of dives, we saw more of the same but a different landscape. Mike found a curious sea turtle while Heather was busy watching the playful sea lion. We also saw a small octopus and apparently there were hammerhead sharks, but we were always too busy looking the other way. We were diving on the outside of a caldera so the sloping terrain made for an interesting dive site. On the ride back to shore, we found some penguins posing in the harbor for us!

Still being eager beavers, we raced off towards the Wall of Tears once we were back on shore. We aren’t quite sure how long our hike/nature walk was but it turned out to be a three hour excursion. The wall was built by the prisoners when the island was a penal colony. The wall itself was a little anti-climatic, but spotting wild tortoises along the path was very exciting. They chew quite loudly and make a fun whistling/hissing sound when they shrink themselves into their shell.