In general: tortoises live on land; turtles live in the oceans and terrapins live in fresh water. Today we returned to San Cristobal’s Puerto Baquerizo Moreno to visit the David Rodriguez Giant Tortoise Breeding Center.  That may sound like something from a Godzilla movie, but it’s a reaction to the near complete destruction of the … Continue reading Tortoise Center

Words for the day: “carapace” is the top of a turtle’s shell, “plastron” is the bottom of the shell.  Go forth and win a trivia contest. Recall that Silversea classifies their wildlife walks as either “Easy”, “Moderate”, “Adventurous” or “Challenging”.  Today was my first Challenging.  It was two hours over mostly rocky paths.  However, Española … Continue reading Española

Today we are visiting Espanola Island. This morning is open time with a large beach and periodic Zodiac shuttles to and from the ship. However, the weather isn't great. So, instead I will tell you about the cabin. I will compare it with my cabin on the Silver Whisper during my 2019 world cruise. Silver … Continue reading Cabin

No, not that Santa Fe.  Santa Fe Island is just a bit southeast of Santa Cruz Island.  Here we had a wet landing but a short, rough hike – so we brought our regular hiking shoes in our bag.  But first, we had more indifferent sea lions to wade thru.  The picture does not do … Continue reading Santa Fe

Today we return to “civilization” by visiting Santa Cruz and docking outside of Puerto Ayora, the largest town in the Galapagos.  Whereas Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal is the political capital of the islands (and has the airport), Puerto Ayora is the tourism capital.  We still took Zodiacs to the actual pier.  During my … Continue reading Santa Cruz