Day 4: June 23, 2007 Pto Ayora to Baquerizo Moreno

  Baquerizo Moreno, Ecuador
Saturday, June 23, 2007

Day 4: June 23, 2007 Puerto Ayora to Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal

I awoke at 7:00 and met Barbara in the Hotel Comedor for breakfast at 7:30. Rafael showed up at 8:15. We packed our stuff and left it in the deposito. Rafael drove us back toward the central highlands to El Rancho Primalia where we got out and hiked around the trails amongst the giant tortoises living in the wild. They appeared to be almost oblivious to our presence, although a couple of them ducked into their shells and hissed. There was a fine rain throughout our 45 minute stay. We saw at least a dozen tortoises.

Isla Santa Cruz Tortoise

Barbara Boerner and Tortoise

JR and Tortoise

Just a few km from the tortoises is a beautiful lava tube that Rafael took us to visit. It is about 300 m long and up to at least 15 m high with electric lighting throughout. It is the biggest one I have visited.

Santa Cruz Lava Tube

The drizzle continued as we drove back to town. Rafael dropped us off at the hotel. He wanted $35-40 from each of us. I negotiated him down to $20 which is probably a little too much but beats an official guide's charge of $45/person.

I sat in the Comedor and wrote while Barbara went out to shop for gifts. She returned reporting only a moderate success.

Rafael didn't show up to pick us up so we got another cab to take us to the port. After some confusion we checked our bags through quarantine and walked over to the San Cristobal ferry launch. We left about 15 minutes later in a 12 m launch with 23 people aboard.

The Ferry Ride

The crossing was rough and not fun. We hit bone crunching pockets numerous times. We were flying! We hit so hard once I thought the boat would break. The captain slowed a bit after that. I was a bit queasy for the first 2/3 of the trip but was fine for the last third.

We were met in Baquierzo Moreno by the daughter of the Hotel Chatham owner and took a cab up to the nice hotel a few blocks from the bay. The crossing only took two hours instead of the normal 2:45.

I meditated but fell asleep until about 7:00. Barbara and I walked down to the harbor and had dinner at a nice restaurant overlooking a beach littered with sea lions. I had a great ceviche de calamari.

The Beach at Baquerizo Morena

We walked back to the hotel and went to our rooms. It took me awhile to figure out how to hook my video camera up to the TV. Just as I got it going, there was a knock at the door with the message that friends were in the lobby to see me. I walked down and was met by Todd, Tom, Russ, Mary, Lynn, and Edwin, our guide. After 15 minutes of talking we decided to go get a beer. Barbara's light was out so I decided not to disturb her.

We walked down to the harbor and found a bar that was Todd's type of place. We got beer and the women started dancing. Tom and I joined them. Later on three crew members also joined us.

We split up around 11:00 and I walked back to the hotel. After watching my video I took a shower and went to bed, glad that our separation from the group was over.