Darwin Station - May 15

Almost time to fly back to the mainland. However, we are chagrined to find that first we are scheduled to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station at 6am, before breakfast. Grumbling ensues. However, our intrepid guide arranges for coffee in the hotel bar, and one of our new friends generously shares his stash of protein bars, as he has throughout the trip. Fortunately it is a short walk to the Station, which is in reality a breeding center for tortoises and land iguanas, which are much scarcer than the marine iguanas we have seen everywhere. It is already extremely humid, but an otherwise pleasant outdoor park. We see several types and sizes/ages of tortoises, including Super Diego, who has replaced Lonesome George as the star of the park, because he is the father of many other tortoises. We start nudging Luis (Lucho), our gentle and laconic National Park naturalist, back toward the hotel and finally get some breakfast, soon followed by the same transportation sequence from yesterday in reverse. We are expertly herded by Tavo and Lucho into jockeying for position on the various buses and boats to make our flight to the mainland in time. We arrive back in Guayaquil, to stay at the same upscale Hotel Oro Verde (“Green Gold”) from the beginning of the trip, with A/C, bellpersons to bring up our bags, great wi-fi and comfortable chairs in the lobby, a fitness center and big swimming pool (which several of us enjoyed), to relax and enjoy our last afternoon in Equador.