It’s already Thursday…I’m crying inside. This trip has gone faster than we could have imagined and expected, and we have only managed to take one, 45 minute nap this entire week. This morning we stopped for a 2.5 mile walk at Isabela Island. We were on the look-out for sea turtles, tortoises, land and marine iguanas. We had a wet landing at the beach and noticed a handful of sea turtle tracks who had laid their eggs overnight. It was good we took a few minutes to dry off and drop off our snorkeling gear for our return, as when we started to leave, the group behind us started shouting. We turned around to see a sea turtle making its’ way back to sea. What a beautiful sight! When the turtle finally made it’s way back to sea, we turned and trekked on. We climbed over a bunch of lava rock and saw many more sally crabs. Ted even captured some photos of more birds along the way too. Not long once we got on the trail did we finally meet the first land iguana. He was ginormous! Another 100 yards later we stopped for additional photo opportunities with another iguana and then another! After the fourth iguana, we were excited to meet our first tortoise. She was just relaxing, taking her time eating a few of the greeneries around. She was only about 10 years old, so fairly young in terms of tortoise. We were greeted by tortoises about every 10 minutes it seemed and they grew and grew. Ted and I were starting to fall behind as Mr. Photographer was busy capturing every image he could. I heard a faint noise coming from the brush which almost sounded like a goat. I looked through the shrubs and after a minute spotted what appeared to be Godzilla tortoise. I called Ted over and we could barely make out the large guy in the distance. I told him I was going to run ahead and tell everybody else and so I did. Half the group followed me back and I pointed out the location. I attempted to videotape Godzilla and wish Ted would’ve stayed with me a bit longer as I found a better location to view the guy. Apparently the noise he was making was his mating call, but I did not see any female by him, therefore, she was either hidden beneath which made him look like Godzilla, or indeed he really was Godzilla. Our guide said the tortoise on this island could weigh as much as 250 kilo, therefore, I am excited to view my video on the big screen!
Upon completion of the hike it was time for more snorkeling. Since we took so long on the hike, we only had 30 minutes to snorkel and I figured it would take me just that long to put on all my gear so I sent Ted on his way. Ted came back and said he swam with two sea turtles and other various tropical fish.
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