The 6am sun woke me before my alarm. I could have used the extra sleep but I wasn’t mad about it. Fun fact: did you know that roosters will crow ALL NIGHT LONG? It’s hard to be mad about the early wake up when the view from bed is the glistening turquoise water and white sand beach. Let’s get this day started! I made a quick cup of tea, threw on a sports bra and shorts, and woke myself up with a quick morning circadian walk down the beach with baby powder soft sand under my feet. The intense sun and cold sea water on my feet welcomed me to the day.
Back in the house I readied myself with haste and took off for my first outing almost exactly at my planned time. Walking down the sandy street I found the wetlands boardwalk and was greeted by a herd(?) of iguanas lounging in the sun. I was disappointed at the lack of wildlife I got to see yesterday but there we go! The crusty black lizards lined either side and looked me up and down, daring me to pass. I reminded myself that they’re not going to attack me, told myself it was time to have a suck it up moment, and walked with haste between them. My first flamingo of the day watched and I swear shook its head at me. It had to night to judge, its feathers weren’t even pink!
The boardwalk snaked through the flamingo lagoons and soon enough I spotted my first set of actual pink flamingos! Hey buddies! They seemed to be curious about me; my salmon colored sun shirt did match them after all.
Slight smells of sulfur emitted from the lava ground and lagoons and my heart was happy. Oh the smell of sulfur makes me happy; transporting me to so many great volcanic memories with the excitement of more to be made. A sign transported me to the movie Snow White, warning not to even touch the little green apples falling from the manzana trees as they were wildly poisonous for humans. Fun fact: A few minutes later I learned that these same apples were an important part of the of tortoise’s diet, helping kill parasites in their tummies. Heart shaped cactus leaves sang to my warming heart.
Before long I reached my destination, the Arnaldo Tupiza Tortoise Breeding Center. I paid my $10 fee and my private guide, Nelly led me in. Breeding centers are key for the preservation of the natives tortoises as introduced animals (rats, ants, dogs, donkeys, goats, and more) destroy nests and compete for food; harming the tortoise population. There are five different species of tortoise on Isabela but only two are at the breeding center. The tortoises here range from 50-150+ years old and have all been captured from the wild. The breeding program is very successful as over 3,000 tortoises have been released since 1992 and there are only a total of around 60 breeders at the center. However, at the current moment there are 900 tortoises at the center at different stages of growth, preparing to be released. The tortoises are all microchipped upon their release so they can be tracked. Fun fact: you can’t even tell the sex of a giant tortoise until they are at least 15 years old and they aren’t able to reproduce until they are at least 25-30 years old! The giant tortoises immediately had me rapt with their elephant legs pushing out of their shells to walk towards me and inquire if we had food.
The tortoises from Cerro Paloma were almost hunted to extinction at one point. As Nelly was explaining the different tortoise varieties and populations to me she also explained that female tortoises don’t like to mate since it’s such a chore and the males are so large and heavy. As if on cue, a giant male idled up to the closest female and mounted her to demonstrate. Apparently the morning hours are their favorite time to mate and this was on full display as I saw tortoises getting their groove on among each of the different populations. It will take three months for those frisky mornings to produce eggs that the center will dig up, incubate, and then raise the babies until they are about five years old and ready to be released into the wild among where their particular population resides. The center will determine which eggs will be male and which female based on the temperate they set the incubators. Higher temperatures will produce females while lower temps, under 27 Celsius, will produce males.
After seeing the populations of the more common species, it was time to view the babies. Tortoise kindergarten, as Nelly called it, consisted of massive rows of wire covered pens containing hundreds of babies. They would stay in the covered pens to protect them from rats and cats until they reached two years of age and their shells were fully hardened. From there they would move into age appropriate open-air enclosures. It was fascinating to watch one group of four year olds as they were the same age but drastically different sizes.
The grand tortoise finale, was viewing the special species of tortoise, those of Cinco Cerro, found only on Isla Isabela and nowhere else in the world, that have a flat shell instead of convex. In 1998, the breeding center rescued 18 of these prehistoric creatures from the Cerro Azul volcanic eruption. Lava burn marks could be seen on some of their shells. These tortoises were estimated to be about 150 years old based on their shell characteristics. FASCINATING!
There was concern among the scientists when they rescued these tortoises that they might be scared and timid for a long time but, in fact, that was not the case. They literally began breeding the day they arrived at the center and have proven themselves to be the sexually active group of tortoises. From this rescued group (17 remain as one died a few years ago), 1,700 babies have been bred and released.
Nelly told me to wait while she snuck away for a minute. She returned with a succulent tree branch. Tortoises have no ears and cannot hear, they have very rudimentary eyesight and can make out shapes and colors but not actually see. But they feel vibrations and have other senses. She reached her arm into the enclosure with the green branch and with haste a giant tortoise waddled over on its elephant feet to chomp down as she explained to me that they have no teeth but a very powerful, strong jaw. She handed me the branch and I got to feed the giant tortoise, feeling it’s strength for myself as it tried to pull the branch away from me. Others sensed that food was within reach and started heading our way. I was downright giddy. Suddenly, Nelly quickly whispered, “Drop it, drop it, there’s a ranger coming!” Apparently we weren’t supposed to be feeding them! I dropped the branch and watched the tug-o-war that ensued over what was left. With her 12 years of experience as a guide at the breeding center, Nelly was a wealth of knowledge and I could tell she had a passion for these creatures. And I now have a newfound fascination and appreciation for then.
Walking back towards my AirBnB, a little black snake crawled between the planks of the wetlands boardwalk, at least it wasn’t a baby viper challenging me like B and I once encountered on a boardwalk on an island in the Philippines! The flamingoes had moved on and were now in hiding but little baby ducklings were just as cute in the lagoon. The marina iguanas still held court. My soul was feeling happy and I was finally settling into this adventure.
Back by the house, a truck was slowly coming down the road with announcements coming out of a loudspeaker. When I got closer I was able to figure out that it was a farmer selling his fresh fruit to the residents and restaurants. I ordered the “Healthy Breakfast” from Pan y VIno a couple doors down and got back to the house at the moment the truck was arriving to deliver Kyra and her boyfriend Paul from the airport. Their luggage, however, was not delivered with them as the air taxi they took from San Cristobol was overbooked and 200 lbs overweight so they were forced to abandon their luggage for the air taxi to bring tomorrow.
Kyra and I met on a hiking trail in New Zealand, two solo female travelers we crossed paths randomly stopped to speak to one another, and the next day embarked on an 18 mile volcanic crossing that I can safely say was physically, mentally, and emotionally transformative for both of us. We spent 18 miles telling each other our life stories and learning about our own bodies capabilities as much as we learned about each other. When I mentioned to her that I wanted to do this trip she was immediately down to join!
They took a few minutes to settle into the house and then it was time to get our butts in gear. Our tour company was going to give us a discount on bike rentals but alas, we got to their office to pick up bikes and the door was locked with a “Be back soon” sign out front. We didn’t have time to waste. We only had 3 hours until our guide would be picking us for a Tintoreas excursion at 2pm. Our plan was to bike to the Wall of Tears and explore along the way – an outing that is usually expected to take 3-4 hours. We found another shop a couple doors down, rented bikes, and hit the road, with a warning from the shop owner that we should walk coming down from the Wall since there’s a section of the road that’s quick steep. Since we had the afternoon excursion on our schedule, our plan was to go straight to the Wall of Tears and then see what we had time to stop and see on the way back. Tomorrow afternoon we could go back for what we missed.
As soon as we took off on the bikes I felt young and carefree. I wanted a bike now! I also felt like it was for certain that my butt would end up really sore from the hard seat. We road down the main street and then turned off to follow the primitive road along the ocean. A road that quickly turned to a sand road; and riding a bike in the sand is hard, it really kinda sucks! At least if I fell off it would be a soft landing.
We road past an oceanfront cemetery; what a great place for a final rest. At a ranger station we were shown a map of the points of interest on the way to the Wall of Tears (Muro de las Lagrimas), provided our names and nationalities and were waved through. The road was no longer sand but gravel, also not easy. My thighs were feeling it. The largest iguana yet looked like a giant speed bump in the shadows. He was worth a stop for sure! We tried to put a foot in the picture and then Kyra in the picture to try to capture the scale of how massive he was.
Two large bumps came into view on the road ahead; tortoises! Sure enough, two tortoises, live and in the wild had planted themselves right in the middle of the road for a nice stretch. Each let out a hiss and drew their heads and limbs in when we approached but how special to see them living their best lives, wild and free! A little ways further down another tortoise was off to the side enjoying a nibble on some greens.
The gravel road grew steeper at times and my thighs were on fire. I don’t think I’ve really ridden a bike since I was in college, almost two decades ago, and I’ve never done any type of biking like this! Kyra was feeling it too and we had no shame hopping off and walking our bikes up some of the bigger hills. Paul had ridden ahead a bit and we saw him stop so we stopped in the shade at the base of the hill he had crested for a rest and some water. Paul waved us up to him repeatedly and we figured he must see something good so we moved on.
What he had found, was quite the opposite. It was a living lesson to heed the warning from the bike rental shop and walk down the steeper hills. A young woman, a local out for some recreation on her own, had lost control of her bike and crashed into a cactus. Her legs were covered in cactus quills embedded in her skin and drops of blood dripped off of her. Kyra and Paul have paramedic and EMT training, respectively, so they went to work trying to remove the quills from her skin. She was visibly shook but handling it well. I checked her bike for damage and did some quill pulling as well but felt like so many were starting to break off instead of come out. We did what we could and the sweet girl gave us all hugs, grateful for our help.
Continuing on, a hill with a steep staircase came into view, Cerro Orchilla. This was it, we made it! We parked our bikes and climbed the stairs; the 360 view was breathtaking. But where was the wall? We realized that this was not actually the Wall at all and we had stopped too soon on the trail.
We descended and got back on our bikes; finally and obviously arriving at Muro de las Lagrimas a couple minutes later. The Wall is just that, a massive wall of lava rock constructed by prisoners sent to the island and sentenced to building the wall. It had no purpose other than to be a punishment. It was an impressive build with a small memorial plaque for all the prisoners who died while working on the wall in the grueling heat. With the sun pelting us it was not hard to imagine the inevitable deaths. The plaque may actually be marking the graves of those who died but I’m not sure; I need to do some more research.
Off to the side of the wall there are steps leading to a steep trail to the top of the hill. All my research had mentioned to make sure to not just stop at the Wall but to take the steps and continue past. It was hot and getting late, but we came this far, we weren’t going to not go all the way. The rocky stone steps were steep and it felt like we were looking straight up hill. It wasn’t the Devil’s Staircase, which Kyra and I had climbed on the Tongariro in New Zealand, but it wasn’t far off.
We huffed and we puffed and we rested and we carried on and we sweated, a lot, even my eyeballs swear sweating, and we questioned how much further we wanted to go, and we continued and made it to the top. We’d stop in the shade for breaks on the way but had to be cognizant not to rest against the trees lining the trail; they were cactus trees, full of sharp quills. The steep hike was not easy but it was beautiful and rewarding. I was proud of myself for making it to the top. Though I must say, the views weren’t that much better than we had just seen at Cerro Orchilla!
The clock struck 1pm as we descended back down. I was proud and happy and feeling in my element. I lagged a little to take in the views of the trail in solitude, I’m in the freaking Galápagos! The descent only took about ten minutes and it was now necessary to beeline back to the house as our excursion pick-up time was drawing closer. I had been resolute that I would heed the warning and walk down the steeper hills, especially based on poor cactus crash girl earlier, but I sucked it up, squeezed the brakes and went for it. It’s not an adventure, I’m not growing, if I’m not pushing myself beyond my comfort zone and testing what I’m capable of.
The wind against me felt refreshing on the bike and little yellow butterflies constantly flew back and forth in front of my face. This was pretty damn cool. One of the tortoises was still in the road, the other had moved on. Biking in gravel and sand still sucked. I had a love/hate relationship with the bike all day. After having not really ridden in decades to doing 9 miles in the heat, sand, gravel, lava rocks, and hills, was quite a workout.
With only ten minutes to spare we arrived back at the AirBnB, and we were hungry! We ordered chicken Cesar wraps from the little restaurant two doors down and ran back to get ready while they cooked our lunch. It was a clusterf*@# of a time getting ready for the guides to pick us up for our afternoon excursion. And said guides were obviously annoyed that we weren’t ready the moment they arrived and that we made them wait until our food was ready.
Arriving at the pier we were quickly shuttled onto our little tour boat, passing by a lazy sea lion sunning herself on the planks. A marine iguana swam through the waters back towards the beach. On the boat, Eduardo, our tour guide, gave a history of the formation of the islands while the captain started working to spot sea life for us. The amazing Galápagos Islands exist thanks to the movement of the specific tectonic plates over a hot spot in the earth. New islands in the archipelago are continually being formed. Even though these are volcanic islands, their youth means that the lava contains lower silica levels so when an eruption occurs it is less dangerous as the lava rises quicker and is less volatile so the volcanoes here are not explosive.
I simultaneously listened alertly while staring in awe at the turquoise waters. I don’t think I’ve ever been in water like this before. Within minutes, one of my Galápagos wish list sightings was granted; two little Galápagos penguins were perched on a lava formation; one pristine and one molting but equally delightful on the eyes. They made the cutest little sounds calling to each other before diving into the water to look for a snack, presumably. A blue footed booby flew down to join the party.
The boat landed on the Tintoreas Islet and we disembarked for a walkabout; immediately met by a sea lion napping on the shaded wood bench. We started walking through the low lava field island, taking care not to accidentally step on the tails of iguanas lounging across the path and blending in with the landscape.
Rounding a corner was a beautiful calm ocean lagoon. Sea turtles popped their head up one after another, bobbing along in the calm clear waters. A lava fissure created a deep narrow channel with enough of a current coming through for a slew of motionless whitetip sharks to nap on the bottom. There must have been 25 of them lounging. Sea turtles and the occasional eagle ray kept company amongst the sleepy sharks. Random sea lions occasionally darted through the channel. I was in awe.
Another 20 yards down the path I almost lost my shit with excitement, two baby sea lions sleepily looked up at me from beneath the Tintoreas Grotto sign. Be still my heart I loved them so much! In a shallow spot of water below, two more babies played; wrestling just like my pups back home. Magic, I felt magic coursing through me. I was in the freaking Galápagos and experiencing all of this in the real world. I tried to figure out how to fit my favorite baby sea lion in my pocket to bring him home figured I’d have a tough time getting thru customs *sigh*.
I didn’t want to leave this little marine life haven and had a terrible time tearing myself away. I lagged behind the tour group and was the last person to arrive back to the landing. Paul had left his little pack on the unoccupied bench instead of taking it with him on the walkabout and the sea lion had switched benches and claimed the pack as his own. Everyone on the boat watched intently and amused as he carefully snuck his pack out from underneath the lazy lion.
Eduardo made sure that everyone was back on board and announced that it was time to snorkel. I squeezed myself into my wet suit jacket and struggled to fit my new mask properly onto my head. I invested in my own high quality snorkel and mask for the first time, because of this trip, and it was well worth it; my mask didn’t fog up once. I’m a terrible swimmer and have no confidence in the water so jumping in off of the boat was terrifying to me. But if I’m not pushing myself, I’m not adventuring. With a pit in my stomach I slid off the boat into the cool water and lived to tell about it. Because I’d asked for a life jacket to wear! The water was comfortable but I’m sure that my comfort was largely in part to my wet suit jacket; another worthwhile investment.
The water was murky from everyone jumping in and kicking up sand. Eduardo would lead the way and the boat would follow us as we headed out into the bay. I was proud of myself for snorkeling, really for the first time, without B’s support. I was also annoyed by how many people were in the group smacking into me with their fins. And underwhelmed by the sights beneath the surface. The little snorkeling I have done has been pretty amazing so this was underwhelming. I was enjoying the experience but a little bored by the views. I bought a new 360 camera for this trip so it was at least a good time to test it out underwater. Though I am now disappointed in myself to realize I had forgotten to update the exposure settings.
We snorkeled for what seemed like an eternity. In the distance a whitetip reef shark swam past but it was hard to make out too clearly. I kept popping my head up to make sure I was still going in the same direction as the guide. Finally some interest as sea lions quickly darted by underneath, spinning and playing. One was chasing a ray across the bottom of the sea floor.
For the grand finale, Eduardo waved the group over to a crevice, another fissure alley in the water between an islet and a solid lava wall. This narrow passage spanned 4-6 ft wide and we were warned NOT to use our feet and flippers as we swam through. We would need to go one-by-one in a line and move as quietly as possible, preferably pulling ourselves along the walls. Why? Because this was another spot where the whitetip reef sharks like to nap. And if we made noise, they might wake up. And if they wake up, they might startled. And if they get startled, they might swim into us. Well this was comforting. The pit was back in my stomach, I don’t think I even needed a snorkel because I’m not sure I breathed at all as I pulled myself through. I started to relax until I saw shadowy figures come into view beneath me. Six sharks sleeping in a little pod. Woah! I observed in awe and then quietly moved through, wondering what these gentle giants were actually capable of. And then there were more. And there were more. And it hit me that I was snorkeling with freaking sharks right beneath me in the freaking Galápagos! My body was so tense with fear of them waking up and swarming around that I started to get a little cramp in my leg, just what I needed. A large shark slowly swam past underneath me and how I didn’t pee myself I do not know!
I finally took a breath as I emerged out of the crevice and it was time to get back onto the boat. My hair was tangled in my snorkel clip and I stood there with my head titled as Paul helped free me. The clouds had rolled in and it was cold. Peeling off my wet suit jacket was no easy task but I managed and was awarded with goose bumps and yummy coconut crackers being passed around the boat. Fat iguanas lined the path as we left the pier in the dusky light.
A hot shower felt amazing to remove the chill from my bones. I was glad to be clean, warm, and dry. And I was ready for food! I was not the only one ready for a real meal and we all got ready with haste to go have dinner at Royal Rock, a small restaurant on the second level of a bar, at the end of a pier. The menu was small but the food was delightful. I’m loving all the fresh seafood. I’ve never had corn in my ceviche before and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I hope to get good rest tonight as tomorrow is an exciting day with a Sierra Negra volcano hike planned for the first part of the day and more exploring back up the Wall of Tears trail planned for the second part.
Taking On the World 
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