Galapagos

We visited the Charles Darwin Center this am and got to see some of the different turtle that are being bred.  We met Diego,  a turtle from CA that is the resident Don Juan of the center.  He's got a long neck and a rather small body for being the father of so many offspring.  Nearby, we saw some rather large land iguana that were bright yellow in color and pretty motionless, save for an occasional blink.  The finches are flying all around, and in each pen yard are different tortoises from the many islands.  We see a feeding platform  with a large group of males, then we check out Lonesome George - who has two females with him, but he's just not interested!
After another short ride, we are able to get out and walk the lip of a volcanic crater before heading to the dock to catch the ferry to the island where the airport is.  Our plane ride to the mainland was uneventful and we got back just after noon Gap time, 1:00 Ecuador time. 
Marco our guide met us at the airport, and Carlos had arranged for him to bring us some pink banana - a local specialty.  We mad a quick stop at the local grocery store to load up on junk food, and good Ecuadoran chocolate and Lexie picked up some Jif PB for the bananas - which she shared with all of us.  Carlos had never tried PB on bananas - I think we converted him!
We've spent the next three hours climbing through a pass in the Andes over 14,000 ft high, then back down to about 10,00o where we have settled for the night.  It's a beautiful hot springs spa with the waters just a few feet from our rooms.  Boy did it feel good tonight.  It's raining and cold out, but the hot springs are steamy and crystal clear.  Our rooms all have heaters in them, and big cushy comforter quilts.  tomorrow we hike again, probably in the mud and rain - just when we finally got all our clothes dry!  No one seems to mind.  Good food, god company and beautiful country  - wish you all could be here to enjoy with us.