April 27. Our day begins early. At 5 am the twelve of us on the tour assemble in the lobby of the Patio Andaluz hotel in Quito for a van ride to the airport. We land at the Seymore Airport on the tiny island of Baltra. By noon or thereabouts, we arrive at the El Chato Ranch Giant Tortoise Preserve in the highlands. It’s lush and green here, a contrast from the more arid lowlands. After a delightful lunch we trade our shoes for rubber boots for a walking tour of the preserve.
We spend an engrossing afternoon walking around the preserve, learning about the natural history of the tortoises, and exploring a lava tube.
Then it’s back in the van to drive to Puerto Aroya where we have a look at some baby tortoises. Then we hop in a panga for a ride to out to the Passion, our floating home for the next week.
After a safety drill where we learn out to don our life jackets we are introduced to the crew before our first dinner onboard. More photos are available in an online gallery.
