Fri. 2-19-10 Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos

We spent the first few hours of our day going into most every ferreteria on the island hunting spare belts for our engine. Believe it, we had very good luck finding everything we needed, including Gates Green Stripe and Goodyear Gatorback belts! The only belt we forgot about, and couldn't find here, is the one for our Village Marine water maker, so we might have to improvise a bit. On a more interesting note, we then went to the Darwin Center, known as the Centro de Crianza de Tortugas e Iguanas Terrestres (The Breeding Center for Giant Tortoises and Land Iguanas). This is where the tortoises and iguanas from different islands are bred in captivity, and released into the wild when mature. It's a very large reserve, and we saw a number of iguanas and giant tortoises, including their most famous namesake, Lonesome George. This poor guy is about 70 years old, and a mate from the same species is yet to be found for him. So...it's reproduce or go extinct. Again, another byproduct of man's avaricious slaughter of species during the last 100 years; not all that long ago when you think about it. We've walked only a small portion of this large island, and we're tuckered out. You have to set a stern anchor here, as the harbor faces directly into the swell coming in to rock your life. The water taxi drivers will set and retrieve these stern anchors for $2/per. Btw, a water taxi ride into town is $.60/pp one way, and is the only game in town. The malecon, or waterfront, is lined with shops and restaurants and languages from many countries can be heard from the many tourists. In this crowded harbor there are three really large three-masted schooners, and we've yet to see another place with these grand relics of a bygone maritime past so close by. The tour and dive boats are numerous also, so water traffic is heavy.