Friday morning we took a taxi inland to go to El Chato-a tortoise reserve.
it was so fun to walk through the woods. The interior part of the island we were driving through was green, lush and beautiful.
The life of being a tortoise here looked pretty great.
We also explored the lava tunnels on the property
one of them was double layered, which was really interesting.
After the taxi returned us home we decided to walk over to the Charles Darwin Research Station. A note and story about the taxi: We were glad we'd found a driver willing to take all 6 of us in one truck (apparently they are only allowed to carry 4). We scheduled him to come back to take us to the airport the next morning, however after this drive we weren't sure he'd want to. On the way back James and Ethan were sitting in the front seat-a bench seat. James had his arm around Ethan, trying to keep him from crowding the driver. At one point the driver lifted his arm slowly moving it away, at which point James realized he'd been holding and rubbing the drivers arm instead of Ethans. When James realized his mistake everyone started laughing, including the driver.
The yellow land iguana was one of the things we really wanted to see. It isn't as easy to find as the marine iguanas that are all over shorelines.
and of course, there is interesting studies and reports about Darwin's famous finches
on the way back into town we spotted this guy checking out the fish market
It was a long hot walk, so a stop for ice cream to refresh was just what we needed as we debated what to do next. It was our last full day and we were trying to fit everything while still making it fun for everyone.
To get to Tortuga Bay (one of our last wish list items) would require another long walk. So we let the kids decide if they were up to it. We'd already walked about 7 miles so far that day, but if we hurried over to Tortuga bay, we thought we could have an hour to play before catching a boat back to town.
Everyone decided it was well worth the walk. The beach was breathtaking.
The only issue we found once we got there is that the boat picks people up way down the beach from where we were, and we didn't have much time.
Kids decided they'd rather take the time to play and walk back to town again instead of catching the boat. They decided the sand felt like powdered sugar.
Once 5 o'clock hits, they start to clear the beach. It was a perfect way to start wrapping up the amazing week. We had a bit of time before dinner to go souvenir shopping which we had planned to do Saturday morning, but noticed earlier in the day that the stores don't open until late afternoon.
Our last dinner ended up being our favorite. This is the menu-just the wall. Katie said it is typical coastal food that she has had when going to the beach in Esmeraldas area of Ecuador.
It was the place on Kiosk street that had been recommended the first night, but was closed on Mondays. We were glad we had a chance to get back to try it. By the time we made it home my phone showed we had walked 10.9 miles that day. The big kids were troopers and were so proud of themselves and excited about our amazing adventures that day.
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