Wednesday 28 May 2008 - Charles Darwin Foundation, Santa Cruz

The Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz

The Darwin Station is the working Galapagos based branch of the international, non-profit Charles Darwin Foundation. Established in 1959, the Darwin Station works closely with the Galapagos National Park Service protecting the Galapagos Islands and Galapagos Marine Reserve.

Its primary function is to conduct scientific operation, research and assists other researchers within the Galapagos National Park and Galapagos Marine Reserve and also works providing environmental education to communities and schools within the islands, and to tourists visiting the Galapagos Islands. The Darwin Station has developed the curriculum for Galapagos Guides including the study of the Island's natural history, conservation and preservation of the islands and visitors can see the Tortoise breeding and rearing project at work.

There are numerous enclosures where young tortoises are bread. They are protected in enclosures with others of the same age.

One of the most famous residents is Lonely George. Lonesome George is the rarest creature in the world. He is the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise, subspecies Geochelone nigra abingdoni, one of 13 tortoises of Galápagos tortoise native to the Galápagos Islands. George is estimated to be 60-90 years of age, and is in good health.

The other enclosure which caught every one's attention contained numerous other Galapagos tortoises.

Because of the delicate eco-system visitors are requested not to touch the animals, keep to designated paths and respect the animals and their protective enclosures. It's a shame John didn't see this sign until after he had broken EVERY RULE!!

We were lucky to catch two of them mating. Or so we thought!

The two caught below on film were actually two males! In fact there were no females in the enclosure. If you look closely you'll also note that the active male has got the wrong end of the other!

There were quite a few gasps of disbelief from the Japanese crowd on the other side who showed enthusiastic interest regardless!

The interesting part is that you can appreciate the concave and convex portions of the shells which fit together to form a suction hold - usually with a female - but it seems to work with two blokes as well. Not sure Nat Geo will pick up this footage for prime time!!

Following the tour we walked back through the township of Puerto Ayora to the jetty where waiting zodiacs took were to take us back to our boat. But not before I got held up by a local protest march. I wasn't permitted to cross the road before they had passed. Consequently I missed the boat! John returned in a zodiac with driver before long, but not without rolling his eyes! I wasn't the last time that I would be last! But hey! I'm taking the time to look around!

We sail overnight to our next islands. All I can say is 'iguanas'!!!

On the wings of Icarus - Cotopaxi!

Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located about 75 kilometres (50 mi) south of Quito. (wikipedia.org)

It is the closest point on the planet to the Sun!

And our first real adventure!

Cotopaxi has the only equatorial glacier and that was our objective - if only we could see it! As you can see the conditions were hardly ideal!

The mountain is clearly visible on the skyline from Quito, provided you can see through the pollution or it isn´t obscured by cloud as it was the entire time we were there. Even standing at the base of the mountain we never got a glimpse of the snow capped peak!

We left Quito city where it was raining - not a good start. We arrived at the first refuge - which has a better kitchen than I do at home!

Cotopaxi is the second highest summit in Ecuador, reaching a height of 5,897 m. It has one of the few equatorial glaciers in the world, which starts at the height of 5,000 metres (16,400 ft)., and that was our objective.

Pedro, our guide of the day, led the way. The rain soon gave way to snow. The weather really started closing in, and despite a good progress we were forced to abandon our ascent at the second refuge, Santa Barbara, at about 4500 metres! I was devasted. So close. But the weather really was turning nasty and we were not equipped for the conditions that lay ahead.

We turned back to base camp. Abour 4 hours and nearly 2500 calories later we arrived back at the car and retunred to Quito.

The exhilarating conditions and the prospect of looking down into a volcano calder has really whet my appetite for climbing.

I´d love the opportunity to come back one day and try again!

For now our next adventure awaited - the Galapagos Islands.

Struggle for existence, and natural selection (Charles Darwin, Origin of Species)

The Galapagos Islands

This is the most amazing place on the planet to view an incredibly varied and remarkably fearless array of fauna!

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator, 525 nautical miles (972 km/604 mi) west of continental Ecuador in the Pacific OceanCoordinates: 0°40′S, 90°33′W. (http://www.en.wikipedia.org/)

The Galapagos are truly remarkable and live up to and exceed all expectations.

From ´gay´Lonely George - an ancient Galapagos Tortoise who spent the better part of 30 minutes trying to have sex with the head of a fellow male tortoise (wait til I work out how to upload the video footage of that one!) to dancing Blue Footed Boobies, swimming with white tipped sharks, penguins, sea lions and sea turtles this trip was truly unforgetttable!

Our journey began at the airport on Baltra Island, a quick transfer by ferry to Santa Cruz and on to Puerto Ayora where we met Lonely George at the Charles Darwin Research Foundation.

The Foundation´s aims are to assist in stabilising at-risk populations of Endemic species and educate the local population and visitors about preservation.

Our home away from home was a motor yacht, the Lobo Del Mar - no luxury liner, but adequate for our amazing tour of these remarkable islands.

My main interest and the reason for wishing to go to these islands, is the amazing Marine Iguana. This reptile has adapted to the coastal zones of the islands and feeds exclusively on algae which grows beneath the shallow waters around the rocky shores.

Little did I know that on our first shore excursion I would see one of these amazing creatures within the first few minutes!

These little creatures are jet black and look truly pre-historic.

The entries that will follow will detail our daily excursions around this remarkable part of our planet and the different species of wild life that are so prolific that you need to watch your every step for fear of standing on one of them!!