“Jackson, I’m so excited!”
“Me too!”
“Got to get packed, the Ts washed our carry on after it was soiled from the leak in the roof.”
“Lourdes sent more photos of properties in San Clemente in a text – too difficult to sort through them so the Ts sent a message this morning to send it as an email attachment.”
“And there was that other property too – absolutely gorgeous – over our budget be we can always inquire about long term rental price reduction.”
“What to blog about today. Hmmm.”
“Jackson, don’t you think we should review our travel plans for tomorrow first?”
“Okay, what’s the itinerary?”
“Juan the taxi driver is picking us up at 4:45 AM tomorrow and then meeting up with Aventurero. Juan will take us to the shuttle in Manta that takes us to Guayaquil airport.”
“Yes, the shuttle arrangements are all set – that’s why we went to Manta last week.”
“Then we fly with Avianca to Isla Baltra, a small island north of Santa Cruz. The airport is a former US military base. The flight is about two hours long.”
“Nilla, don’t forget about the time zone change in the Galapagos.”
“At the airport we take a bus to the Santa Cruz ferry – a short ferry ride – and once on Santa Cruz a taxi to Puerto Ayora where we will stay the night at Hostal Estrella de Mar.”
“That means Star of the Sea.”
“Yes, Jackson, muy bien. The following morning we’ll have time to explore Santa Cruz before taking the afternoon ferry to Isabel Island’s Puerto Villamir. This is a much longer ferry ride, about two and a half to three hours and the seas may be rough.”
“Oh my. Watch the stomach.”
“You know you don’t get seasick.”
“Nilla, I was just thinking about the Trio.”
“Once in Puerto Villamir we’ll be staying at Hostal La Gran Tortuga through 01/28/2019.
“So from there we’ll explore the Galapagos experience.”
“Yes Jackson. Now tell me what tortuga means.”
“Tricky question Nilla – testing my Spanish?”
“So..”
“It means turtle or tortoise, the same word refers to both.”
“What’s the difference then?”
“Turtles and tortoises are members of the reptile family. Turtles live most or at least some of the time in water while the tortoise resides on the land. Remember the sea turtle nests on the beach here, the golfinas? Anyway both belong to the order of Testudines but in different families.”
“How can you tell them apart Jackson?”
“The tortoise generally has a dome shaped shell which is heavier than the turtle’s shell. You can image since the turtle is a swimmer, it needs to have a shell that is lighter with a lower profile and they have flippers while the tortoise has shorter feet with claws.”
“So the tortoise doesn’t swim.”
“Not at all. But there are terrapins that have fins for swimming and claws for walking on the land. Then there are terrapins that spend significant time on land and in brackish, swampy water and they have webbed feet and claws to accommodate their habitat. ”
“How long do they live.”
“The giant tortoise can easily live one hundred years and the large sea turtles for about eighty years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“It certainly is – Do you remember reading the story about Lonesome George?
“I do, he lived on Pinto Island and died in 2012. We should post some information about the Galapagos too – maybe tomorrow once we get there.”
“Jackson, we’ve got errands to do and laundry. We should also see about the mural – speaking about turtles.”
Look how much they’ve done, it is really gorgeous!!
“We need to get organized and packed. Dinner and a little socializing then to bed. It’s an important day tomorrow.”
“So it is – good night!”
Adventures of Nilla and Jackson 