We took a nice tour of San Cristobal island today. We paid Fernando $50 per person for the tour. Fernando doesn't actually accompany you (at least he didn't with us) but he does cook you a nice traditional meal at his house at the end of the tour. You can see the same sights with a taxi for about $25 per person but you don't get things organized for you and you miss out on the lunch.

We left Puerto Baquerizo Moreno by pickup truck and headed up into the mountains. There is a single primary road spanning the south of the island leaving the northern 2/3s of the island closer to natural. Most people live in the main town of Baquerizo Moreno but there are several small villages along the road that leads up into the highlands. The soil in the highland area is very rich and has been largely cultivated in the southern part of the island where rains are frequent. The once extensive scalesia forest has now been choked out by guava orchards and other farming. The scalesia trees look like something from Horton Hears a Who, tall and skinny with symmetrical rounded umbrella like canopies. The most bizarre thing about them is that they are members of the dandelion family.

The first stop on the tour was El Junco, the only fresh water lake in the Galapagos. The lake lies in the mouth of an old volcano high in the hills with a spectacular view all around. From time to time you will find yourself in the middle of a cloud as you hike around the perimeter. The walk around the caldera is easy and provides wonderful views of the surrounding area. Many birds, including frigates, frequent the area around the El Junco lake. At the far end of the trail you can see where the cataract runs down the hill in the rainy season to form the waterfall in Agua Dulce bay far below.

The largest peak on the island, Cero San Joaquin, is just across the way from El Junco. A recent "green" power project is situated here. It involves three large windmills which supply 50% of the power for the town when operating.

We visited the giant tortoise habitat next. Wild Galapagos tortoises live in the north of the island but the park has a habitat that you can visit in the south where they are attempting to increase the population through managed breeding. You get to see tortoises at all stages of development here. The eggs and babies are protected in cages that keep the alien rat species and cats from destroying them. The large tortoises live in a natural setting at the park and wander freely through the brush, munching leaves and grass.

As we travelled on we saw several beautiful vistas providing panoramas of the coastline and surrounding areas. The highlands are surprisingly lush, cool and ferny, while the lowlands can be rather arid.

Our last stop was at the coast where we crossed tracks with the marine iguanas. These guys are big. My friend Kevin (aka the lizard man) had a pretty amazing lizard habitat at his house and one of his pets was a large green iguana. These marine guys are even larger then the green fellas we're used to in the states. If you watch the ocean you will see one pop its head up to take a breath between grazing sessions on the bottom.

We wrapped up the tour with a wonderful lunch at Fernando's. Fernando has continued the tradition of having visiting yachts sign in on a log book that his mother started when she ran a restaurant on the wharf years ago. It was interesting to see who was here last week and last year and last decade.

After wrapping up the tour we spent the afternoon and evening at our new favorite Internet cafe, The Mocking Bird. They make burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, brownies and have good coffee and ice cream. What else could you want?