23 February 2019: Boqueriza Moreno, San Cristobal, Galapagos

We've had a fantastic day today land touring the

highlights of this volcanic island. We kicked off in the Highlands at El Junco crater lake, the only natural fresh water on the island and part of the national park. It was quite a pull up the hill to the crater but worth it for the views from the top, even though it was an overcast day (that was a welcome relief from the intense heat and sun!).

The topography and vegetation reminded us of Dartmoor in many ways which, of course, has a volcanic past as well.

Our next stop was the giant tortoise breeding centre where we got up close and personal with these ponderous beasts. They are reared in semi-captivity to safeguard against extinction, and can live to well over 100 years old. Interestingly the sex of the young depends on the incubation temperature, warmer for females.

After an hour or so learning more about the breeding programme we moved on to Puerto Chino beach, reached by a fifteen minute trail through dry forests of scrub and cacti. The beach itself was lovely and we scrambled up the neighbouring rocks to spy on blue footed boobies … but there was only one!