Disembarkation day. A visit to Charles Darwin Research Station

After we disembarked in Puerto Ayora, we met a new guide, Maria, and a driver who took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Our driver dropped us off at the entrance, and we walked for about 15 minutes to reach Fausto Llerena Breeding Center. We were there around 7:00 AM, so the shops and restaurants were still closed. At the breeding center, we saw giant Galapagos saddleback tortoises, which have long necks and limbs compared to the other tortoises we found on the islands, which are dome-shaped. This one here is a male; because he's big, a female one is relatively smaller. He was stretching his neck while Maria was talking, which made it seem like he was listening!

 
They have a breeding program here that keeps the eggs and baby tortoises in the nursery for about three or four years before they are released into the wild. This way, they can prevent the extinction of these creatures.

 
Since we had nothing to visit here besides the tortoises, we met our driver again at the entrance and drove for an hour to reach the Itabaca channel. We boarded a ferry where our bags were stowed on top, and reached the other side of the channel in 5 minutes. We rode the Lobito bus here to the airport. The crew helped us transfer our luggage from the ferry to the bus.

 
We arrived at the Baltra airport in less than 10 minutes, and we surprisingly met our head chef, Lisbeth, who was also flying home after many weeks on the cruise.

 
When boarding our flight to Guayaquil, we felt mixed emotions of sadness and happiness. It came to our senses that our adventure had come to an end. But we were also very excited to go home because we miss our families so much and we have lots of interesting stories and memories to share!