We had two options this morning, a visit to a tortoise breeding center involving a 45 minute bus ride each way and a tour of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno with one of the members of the expedition staff who grew up here. Since we still had one turtle excursion still to go on the trip we decided to see the town.
San Cristobal is the fifth largest island in the Galapagos, has the second largest population and is the eastern-most island in the archipelago. It is also where Darwin first went ashore in 1835. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the provincial capital and tourism infrastructure is growing considerably.
Our first stop was near some of the oldest houses in the water front. During World War II these houses served as barracks for American soldiers stationed in Baltra. After the war, the barracks were donated to several families in the different settlements of the Galapagos.
As we walked along the water front we enjoyed snapping photos of the sea lions that were sleeping on benches and by the sidewalks. We stopped at the main market, which was used as a water reservoir for almost 100 years. Our tour ended with a vista from Cerro Patricio (Patricio Hill) and then we had free time to visit the Galapagos Interpretation Center and wander around town.
As you can see from many of my photos, it is the sea lions who are in charge here!
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