June 13, 2004 - Darwin Station, Santa Cruz Island

Due to the amazing powers of Google, I recently had two images of Lonesome George published by the scientific journal Nature, so I decided to join the group going to the Darwin Station on Santa Cruz to see if ol' George would be willing to pose for a few more photos. But alas, neither George nor Diego were willing to play, so we hung out instead with some large male giant tortoises in the open pen area.

After checking out the tortoises, a few of us went to see the hyperbaric chamber, which is not far from the station. I had only seen them in documentaries and movies, so it was neat to get to see one in person. I hope I never need to be treated in one.

I typically have little-to-no patience for browsing around at tourist gift shops, so I hitched a ride back to the boat instead of walking the t-shirt shops with the others. After all, in order to get a journal like this up immediately upon returning to the States, I do have to sit at the computer every once in awhile. :)