Things to do in Puerto Ayora

Arriving at Turtle Bay on a new moon night, the beach shimmered with a cold, silvery phosphorescence under the moonlight. Following the tracks left by the ranger's red flashlight, we suddenly saw leatherback turtles emerge from the waves like prehistoric warships—their eyes brimming with the salt of the Pacific Ocean, using their flippers to dig the holy grail of life in the sand. The moment the first egg fell into the nest, everyone present held their breath, with only the sound of the tide providing accompaniment to this ritual that had continued for hundreds of millions of years. At dawn, the hatchlings broke through the sand, trudging towards the indigo dawn on the horizon, instantly filling the beach with the trails of miniature galaxies. The ranger whispered, "The pattern on the shell of each returning mother turtle is a unique star map." And in my hand, I found a drop of warm, salty incubation water that had drifted in with the sea breeze.