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Giant Turtles in the Galapagos

From Shar & Wingy´s American Adventure in Galapagos Islands, Ecuador on Mar 16 '06

sharwingy has visited no places in Galapagos Islands
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Giant Tortiose at Galapagos
Giant Tortiose at Galapagos
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Caught a flight to the Galapagos Islands in the morning.  Really expensive to get here - US$400 each for the flight and then you have to pay an additional US$100/each for the national park fee - but the turtles are worth it!!

After the plane had landed we had to catch a ferry across the bay to the bus terminal - the water was amazingly clear - I saw a reef shark within minutes!

Got sick of waiting for the bus to leave and decided to catch a cab.  The driver was obviously annoyed at the deal Wingy had negotiated to get us to town - because he was driving like a crazy thing at 140kph in a 70 zone for most of the 40km trip.

A pair of Blue Footed Boobies at Galapagos
A pair of Blue Footed Boobies at Galapagos
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The wildlife is everywhere here.  There are Iguanas and Pelicans on the main street and when I looked out of our hotel window there were seals on the jetty.

Went to the "Charles Darwin Research Centre" where they are studying/breeding the Giant Turtles and the Iguanas.  Met "Lonesome George" who is apparently the last turtle on earth of his particular species and they are trying to mate him with a similar breed - at over 90 years old - he is not too interested... though they are still hopeful!  If this doesn't work they might try cloning!


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