We met one of the oldest creatures we’ve ever met today. He came with wrinkles, preferred to be hand fed and with mush food. Bananas were his favorite. You had to be careful though, when feeding him because as you got down to the end of the banana, your fingers got perilously close to his powerful jaws.

Ilona and Kara Talking Turtles

We met a hundred year old turtle today. Actually, we met two of them. We’ve taken photos of the shell, which, like tree trunks, will tell us the actual age of the tortoise with the number of rings in each scute. Until these rings are counted, however, we have been going off what the islanders think the turtle’s age is. And that is one hundred years old.

Wise Old Tortoise

We fed him bananas and Ilona, one of our friends on the trip and a tortoise owner and lover, gave him three Eau Vive bottles (3L) to drink out of a coconut. This is one happy dude. He was really adorable; I couldn’t get enough of his bald head and wise, curious eyes. Though most of the time they were completely focused on the food in front of him. He did like neck scratches though. Ilona and I would rub his soft, wrinkly neck and he would stop looking for food, eyes glazed over, and just enjoy the rubs. Occasionally he’d even make noises that sounded like they could be turtle purrs.

Being such a massive creature of stature (he probably weighted ~200lbs), he is of course a natural target for rides. The village children were the first to hop on his back, but were knocked off after the turtle crawled under a tree. There were two children on the tortoise then, and they were cleanly swept off the tortoise’s back by the protruding tree trunk. I think he did it on purpose. The next attempt at riding the turtle was actually done by a lemur, who contentedly ate his banana aboard the prehistoric reptile and then leapt off. That must have been torture for the turtle smelling the banana so near to him but not actually able to get at it.

Even the Local Kids Enjoyed his Company

The tortoises were definitely a highlight of our EcoTour. Their gentle mannerisms, prehistoric looks, and affinity for food had us completely enamored. That’ll be our next pet (even Nicholas is on board with this one!)