Galapagos trip - Turtle breeding center

I guess even tortoises can run away. The small turtle breeding center on Isabella Island in the Galapagos Islands is small, but important and has become very successful as well. The giant land tortoises - which are endemic to one or several of the islands - are bred for many years before released.

(Galapagos trip part I, part II, part III , part IV, part V)

If I remember correctly, this is an old lady with 143 years on her shoulders, and the oldest member of her species.

And this is a beautiful acacia tree right at the entrance - where rock lizards are scuttling around and finches let us get closer than a yard.