Day Numero Dieciseite:

Today we arose and said goodbye to San Cristobal. A speed boat picked us up and took us to Santa Cruz. Before entering the boat, however, a thorough inspection took place of all our things to make sure nothing was being taken from the island. Even though none of us had nothing to hide, it was still kind of scary to think you could get in so much trouble by taking anything. It just proved how much people care about their environment and actually made me respect the people of Ecuador, and their attempts at conserving the world. After we all passed inspection with flying colors we boarded our boat and headed for Santa Cruz. Upon arrival we checked in Galapagos Inn, by far the best place we have stayed on this entire trip. It is beautiful, clean, and so home-like that we have all fallen in love. The best part of it all is that it is our Galapagos tour guide's mother's hotel. SO STINKING CUTE! After checking the rooms out, we headed into town for a little bit of shopping and lunch. After lunch we boarded a bus and headed for family owned ranch which had the typical cows, horses, and a variety of locally grown plants. The real kicker about the main reason it had such a claim to fame however, was that it has giant tortoises. When I say giant I actually mean GIANT. The biggest one we found while walking around the property was over 100 years old and weighed at least 500 pounds. He got kind of vocal when we attempted to approach him, so our telephoto lenses were put to the test.

I think it's safe to say that my lens passed the test! Everyone meet Mortis the Ancient Tortoise. 

When we were finished watching all the tortoises we headed to an old lava tunnel. The best way to describe it would be like this: it's a big empty tunnel. Not that special to the naked eye, however when we learned about the history and what it really was, it took on an all new air of mystery. We were standing on old lava, in a tunnel! How many people can say that? After our little expedition, we headed back to the hotel and cleaned up for dinner. After a delicious meal of pasta [after close to three weeks without it, it didn't realize how much I have missed it] we rolled back to our hotel. We climbed up to the roof and practiced writing with light under the Galapagos sky. We had all sorts of giggles and fun times creating all sorts of different creations. After watching everyone tonight, I have realized that we have become such a close net group of people, we could easily be family. I have found seven new sisters and a new brother in all of my friends and I don't know what I am going to do without them when we return home. Tomorrow we are off to discover more about Darwin and Lonesome George. Goodnight to all.