Galapagos - Urbina Bay

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ISABELA ISLAND - URBINA BAY

Day 7 of our Celebrity Xpeditions finds us on Isabela Island, which is by far the largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago.  It is composed of of 6 shield volcanoes - Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf that over the years have coalesced into one island.  All of these volcanoes are considered still active with the last volcanic eruption occurring in May 2008.

There are five different subspecies of giant tortoises spread upon their slopes; almost all of the wonderful photos of these giant tortoises you may have seen were probably taken here.   Today we had our first opportunity to find the giant land tortoises (Galapagos).

Urbina Bay, a beautiful, small bay located at the east base of the Alcedo volcano.  The bay coastal area was uplifted 12 - 15 feet along a shore line of over a mile.  The violent action happened so quickly that it trapped crustaceans, echinoderms, mollusks, and fish species inland. 

The trail starts on the beach where a wet landing is made, the tour is approximately 3200m, and runs through sand substrates, pumice rock, lava, coral and vegetable formations in a coastal area that has had a lift; in addition burrows of land iguanas can be seen.

This area is also directly affected by the Cromwell Upwelling Current.  The Cromwell is a deep water current traveling along the equatorial line form the western Pacific eventually coming in contact with the Galapagos Archipelago.  This nutrient rich, cold water comes to the surface with temperatures reaching the mid 50's (10 -13 degrees Celsius).

View our Galapagos - Urbina Bay photo album for more images of our morning excursion on the Island of Isabela.

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End of a Species - Lonesome George

Lonesome George with our Naturalist Guide

 Rest In Peace 

Lonesome George

Early Sunday morning, Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise, was found dead in his corral at the Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Center in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, by members of the Galapagos National Park Service.  His exact age was unknown, but he was believed to be more than 100 years old.

A member of one of eleven subspecies of Galapagos tortoise native to the Galapagos Islands, he had been labelled the rarest creature in the world, and was a potent symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos and internationally.

Not so Lonesome

Lonesome George was found on Pinta in 1972 although Pinta tortoises were thought to be extinct. Since then, Lonesome George has been part of the Tortoise Program of the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS). Various efforts were made to get George to reproduce. Two female tortoises collected on Wolf Volcano (Isabela Island) were put in Lonesome George’s corral. These females produced eggs at the end of 15 years with Lonesome George. Unfortunately all of the eggs were infertile. Later two females from the Espanola tortoise population (the species most closely related to Pinta tortoises genetically) were with George until the end.   

A visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora was not complete without stopping by Lonesome George's corral to see him drinking from his favorite watering hole or simply just lounging around.  We were fortunate to see him a few years ago when we were on Celebrity Xpedition in Galapagos.   George didn't mind having people checking him out, and would pose for photos with his guests.

A New Beginning

The cause of Lonesome George's death won't be known until a necropsy is completed.   He is being kept in a cold chamber to avoid decomposition prior to the necropsy.

His legacy will live on.  Following Lonesome George's death, Edwin Naula, Director of the GNPS, stated, “This July, the GNPS is convening an international workshop to focus on management strategies for the restoration of tortoise populations during the next ten years. The workshop will be held in honor of Lonesome George.“

Restoration of Lonesome George's island of Pinta as well as the other islands in the Galapagos archipelago will keep him in our minds for generations to come.    

Related Blog Posts:

Hope for Lonesome George
Galapagos - Charles Darwin Research Center (Day 9)

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Celebrity Xpedition - Galapagos - Great Offers

Galapagos Great Offers

Celebrity Xpedition

Take advantage of these special offers on October & November Sailings

If you haven't read my articles on our Celebrity Xpedition to Galapagos last year, I suggest you do so. I am often asked what my favorite cruise vacation is and my answer is usually "the one I'm on now". If you pressure me more, I will tell you that it was our Xpedition to the Galapagos.

One hundred fifty years ago, a man wrote about his quest that took him to a place where he would discover how life evolved thousands of years ago. You have the opportunity to follow in his footsteps and discover a land that is inhabited by species that can be found nowhere else on earth.

What do you think it was like to come face to face with a Red Marine Iguana or a Giant Galapagos Tortoise? What was it like seeing one of those cute Sea Lions or Galapagos Penguins?

You don't have to guess - you can find out for youself if you take advantage of one of the following special offers that Celebrity Cruises has announced.

Celebrity Cruises Itineraries & Pricing

Captain's Club Elite members receive 10% discount on a Celebrity Xpedition to Galapagos.

Celebrity Xpedition is an all-inclusive cruise vacation. Purchase the entire land/sea package and you can forget about doing any planning of daily activities. Your only decision will become do I want medium or high intensity activity in our next Galapagos island.

Celebrity Xpedition staff greets you at the airport in Quito, Ecuador and puts you on a motor coach to your nearby hotel. You explore Quito for two days before being escorted to the airport where you board a charter flight to Baltra, the starting point of your sea portion of the vacation.

Onboard the vessel, all meals and entertainment are provided as is the case on most cruises. In addition to that, you can belly up to the bar with your newly made friends for cocktails any time you want. It is hard to spend money onboard the ship. Most things are included except for items in the gift shop or a massage from the spa attendant.

Celebrity Xpedition was just refurbished, adding some additional cabins and sprucing up the ship. I think you will truly enjoy the improvements. I can't say enough about the ship's staff and naturalists - they are the best in the industry.

Call me today before the limited space is sold out.

Galapagos - Santa Cruz Highlands (Day 9 Afternoon)

The afternoon activity consisted of a bus ride to the highlands of Santa Cruz to observe giant tortoises in the wild. Both the Charles Darwin Research Center and this tour were offered in the morning and afternoon. We opted to do the research center in the morning.

The Zodiacs dropped us off at the landing pier in Port Ayora where we made a short walk to a waiting mini-bus. After a short drive through the highlands, we arrived at a farm. There was a light rain falling, so we were happy we had our nylon jackets and walking shoes.

We began walking along a path which was muddy from the rain that had fallen earlier. Since we had our walking sticks with us, we didn't have any problems navigating along the path. The first thing we saw was the entrance to a lava tunnel. We made our way down the path and went inside. After a few photos, we exited the tunnel and started on our quest to find giant tortoises who were roaming the farm freely.

It didn't take long before we saw our first tortoise grazing in the grass. He was just laying in the grass pretty much ignoring us. After a while, he lifted his head to look at us, but then went back to his original position, resting in the grass.

We headed further through the grass and before long we saw one giant tortoise and then another. There were about five of them in a relatively short distance. Some of them were moving slowly through the grass, others were just resting in the grass, and a couple of them were eating the vegetation.

There is a fenced in area on this farm, but the tortoises have plenty of room to move about freely. Below is a video taken near the fence of a giant tortoise having lunch. It consisted of a ripe grapefruit that had fallen from one of the trees.

This was a fitting conclusion to our excursions in the Galapagos Islands. The giant tortoises are probably the most widely known creatures of the Archipelago. It was amazing to be able to observe them in their nature habitat without any barrier between them and us. They were not bothered by us at all. We have several photos and videos to remember them by.