August 29, 2006 - Ecuador, Day 7 (afternoon)

Finally at our home for the next 4 days - the Tip Top IV.

Stopping for just long enough to drop our stuff, we head back out in our zodiacs/dinghies and off to the Charles Darwin Research Station.
The wildlife never stops. Right at the dock for the Station is a Great Blue Heron.

Mom photo-documents out first encounter with marine iguanas, unique to the Galapagos.

A group of iguanas.

Look at the size of the prickly pear cactus!
Even the Arizonans were impressed,

The fruits of the tortoise breeding efforts at the Station.
Not that you can tell from the picture, but these little guys are 8"-12" long.

This guy, on the other hand, is 3 feet long - noticeably smaller than the ones in the wild.

This is Lonesome George - so called because he is the last of his particular sub-species of Galapagos Tortoise.
There is a $25,000 reward for anyone who finds a mate for him (possibly in some zoo somewhere else in the world that Ecuador may have given a gift). However, the researchers at the Station think he may not be able to get his groove back to perpetuate the species, anyway.

Jill poses with a shy turtle.

This is a pretty big dude.

Yeah - he's checking me out...

A Yellow Warbler hangs out just below my feet.

Gasta tawtus gotta shell tru da shell.

Captive land iguana at the Station.

Some girls hanging out in a group (maybe going to the bathroom)...

Paul and Jill pose in front of the sign on the way out.
Paul takes a few cactus spines for the picture.

Almost back to the boat, we stop at a Waved Albatross statue.


Tomorrow - Epsanola island.