Stalking a Giant Turtle

Arrived after 2 hours on a speed boat. There were lots of waves and it was hard to move around - not that there was much room on this boat. Last 2 days we were on a nice boat with lots of inside and outside areas for all 20 of us.  Not so this boat. The first 12 on the boat squashed into the outdoor seats. The last 8 of us got stuck inside. The outside had fresh air and less bouncing, but we had more room.  On the way home, I'm not sure if I'll try for the front, or take the benefit of stretching out all my stuff.

I got a great welcoming committee too the island - a big red iguana and a baby sea lion crying for his mom.

After disembarking, we took off for a 20 minute drive up the volcano with  an open air bus on a dirt road.   While the port and lower lands were dry and scruffy,  the highlands were humid and lush.  Most of the approx. 160 people on the island live in the highlands because it has the only source of fresh water.

Floreana was the first of the islands to be settled (Santa Cruz,  where we are staying was the last).  The first person on the island in the 16th century was an Irish troublemaker who got left with a machete, rope, and very few other items.  Fouz years later someone picked him up.  Later visitors included pirates who refreshed provisions from the fresh water shooting and edible foods on the island.  Others came,  but never for long until around 1930. First Friedrich Ritter and his girlfriend, then the Wittmer family.  Their son was the first child born on the island.  Then an interesting character showed up - the self-centered Baroness Eloise Wagner von Bosquet, along with her lover and husband.  Or was she a baroness? After she dumped the boyfriend, he reported she was actually a club dancer and spy.

Of the original settlers, only the Wittmers survived.   The natives and her husband said they were going to Tahiti, but no boat ever left, there was no record of her in Tahiti, and she was never heard from again. A little later,  her boyfriend tried to leave the island on a ship, but his body washed up on shore four months later. Finally, Ritter died of food poisoning under suspicious circumstances.  The Wittmer family still lives on the island today.

After lunch,  were went to the beach for snorkeling or enjoying the wildlife.  I decided to snorkel and was glad I did.  I found a giant green sea turtle almost as soon add I went out. after 5-10 minutes I lost him and started looking at the fish and seaweed.  After a while, I ran across him in the long seaweed.  I started snapping pictures,  but he didn't really like being found and started swimming away.  So I followed.  I probably swam beside him for another 10 minutes until he passed the rope over which I was not allowed to go.  I tried to take a picture with me and the turtle in the background - really hard to do while snorkeling, holding on to the camera for dear life, and keeping track of the turtle.  Mostly I got pictures of my life preserver.  I tried to do a video of him swimming, but had the camera on the picture setting by accident.   In the end, however, I did get some pictures and had a great experience.  So yesterday I swam with a sea lion and today a sea turtle!  What a great way to end my time in the Galapagos.

Edward's New animals:  red marine iguana (really same animal, but looks different so I'm counting), big green sea turtle, lots of fish.