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Prickly-pear cactus blossoms at the Casa Opuntia

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Jenny (tourmate from Chicago) and Alfredo (guide extraordinaire and one of the most connected entrepreneurs in Ecuador!)

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Pool area at Casa Opuntia; a great place to relax with a caipirina :>

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Getting ready to board a little nine-seater to fly to Isabela. The flight was delayed because although it was sunny and beautiful in San Cristobal, Isabela was socked in with fog, rain, and very low visibility.

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The little six-seater that Bill will take with a few others from our group.

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All aboard!

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Suzanne (tourmate from Boston) doing a last-minute flight check while sportin' her hep new panama hat.

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Suzanne, Giselle, and Alicia -- Ready to fly!

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Setting a course with a little portable GPS.

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See you on Isabela!

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Giselle's plane takes off first!

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Giselle's plane is up, up, and away!

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We'll race you to Isabela, Bill!

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Aerial view of the San Cristobal airport and the small town of Port Baquerizo Moreno

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Goodbye, San Cristobal!

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Hello, Isabela!

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Backseat flying :>

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Not much looks to be growing down there...

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Watching Giselle's plane land from the far end of the runway

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Waving to Bill's plane as it taxis to a stop

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Unloading

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Our room at the Iguana Crossing on Isabela. Again, we had a wonderful balcony with a view of the ocean.

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Walking through the forest to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. Our naturalist, Salvador, begins to describe some of the flora and fauna we will be seeing in this ecosystem.

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Iguanas!

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These marine iguanas have adapted to drinking saltwater by spitting the salt out of a blowhole on their heads.

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Leaving a trail

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Fiddler crabs

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White-cheeked pintail duck making ripples with a whimbrel

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Flamingoes!

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Opuntia cactus - because both iguanas and giant tortoises love to eat the cacti blossoms, the opuntia cactus when young and small has needle-like prickers on its trunk but as it matures the bark becomes very smooth.

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Flamingoes, common stilts, and pintail ducks frolicking in the brackish water

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Tortoises love these apples but they are poisonous to everyone else!

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To prevent evaporation in the tropical clime, this tree has very small leaves with little surface area

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This is actually a mature opuntia cactus!

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Lava lizard!

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Our first giant tortoise sighting...

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A yellow warbler sitting in a palo santo tree. Dogfish Head Brewery has a wonderful beer aged in palo santo barrels.

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These tortoises are very young - only a couple years old. Giant tortoises can live for over two hundred years!

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Each tortoise has a number painted on its shell to identify which year it was born and from what island it belongs. Once it is large enough that it can survive in the wild, it is released back to its home.

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Busy intersection

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Rush hour on Isabela Island

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Relaxing

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Loungin' in the shade...

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"Hey guys! Any room for me under there?"

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Determination

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"Do I have something in my teeth?"

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"Let me check. Open wide!"

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Taking the high road

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A little snack

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Get a room, you two!

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Alfredo jumped into the odoriferous salt marsh to pick up that metal bar and other trash, and sank up to his knees -- much further than anticipated! Luckily the nearby hotel has an outdoor hose!

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Marine iguanas resting in the salt marsh

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Taking a dip

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Gotta pay the troll toll...!

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Feral chicken with her little chicks

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After lunch at Cesar's in Puerto Villamil, we brought our snorkel gear and rode mountain bikes to a little boat that toured us around the islets of Las Tintoreras to explore and see the sights!

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Sea lions on a boat from Puerto Villamil

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There's a new captain on this boat! Arf Arf!

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Quite a large ray

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Red mangrove growing on volcanic rock

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I wonder what kind of animal would live around here...?

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...could it be? Yes - Galapagos penguins!

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We've been spotted...upside down!

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Squatty penguin

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More penguins!

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Penguins and iguanas

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Uh-oh...I think these iguanas want an introduction...

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Pelican in mangrove

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Out for a swim!

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A'a lava, which may or may not be named for the sound you'd make if you tried to walk across its treacherous surface.

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A few marine iguanas

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Shark!

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Great blue heron

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I wonder what he's eyeing...?

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Uh-oh...little iguanas and crabs!

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A'a lava rocks. A'a is a Hawaiian word, and distinguishes this type of lava formed when the lava has lots of trapped gas in it from pahoehoe lava which is more undulating and ropy and less gaseous.

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Crab with ruddy turnstone

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Ruddy turnstone

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This landscape is such good camouflage for iguanas!

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Yellow warblers

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Watch your step!

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A brief snorkeling interlude...

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and although it was a bit cloudy and murky, we still saw lots of fish!

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More penguins!

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Graceful swimmer

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How many marine iguanas are in this picture? (Wrong.)

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Marine iguanas blend in amazingly well

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On a mission

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Whimbrel

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Iguana Crossing at dusk

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One last beachwalk before dark

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Beautiful sunset on Isabela

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We didn't spend much time in the pool, but it definitely added to the ambience.