The next morning, a few of us went out in search of more wildlife. We found half a dozen flamingos in a small pond and then visited the breeding center on Isabela, whose logo is quite exceptional (see below). Tortoises are bred at the center and released into the wild when they have reached a certain maturity. The center also serves as a hospital; injured animals found in the wild are rehabilitated and eventually released. This trip turned out to be an unexpected delight because we arrived at the center just at feeding time. The younger tortoises (less than eight years old) are kept in enclosures by the dozens and are surprisingly active. After the keeper tossed in food (a plant known as elephant-ear), the juveniles would literally crawl all over each other to feed. The dogpile (tortoisepile?) was really funny to watch and reached the height of three tortoises in some places.
After a walk back to the lodge along the beach and another delicious lunch, we headed back to Santa Cruz on another two-hour boat ride. Once back, we walked up the road just a bit to the Charles Darwin Research Station, which includes another breeding center. This center wasn’t as impressive (for visitors) as the center on Isabela, but we did get to see some land iguanas, the pen where Lonesome George lived (until his death last year), and two pairs of grunting copulating tortoises. It was an appropriate conclusion to the guided portion of my stay on the islands.
