Santa Cruz Island
We observed in the horizon the view of a town; it was the colourful town of Puerto Ayora at six thirty in the morning. It was just awakening; little by little we saw the lights being turn off after the quiet night. At this time of the year trees are fully foliaged and flowered, adorning mainly the main streets in town. As we drove our way through, we noticed the nice contrast of colours on the tall trees. Most of them were introduced by the locals as part of what their brought long ago when coming to the Galápagos for the first time. Puerto Ayora is the town that holds the largest population in the Archipelago, between seventeen to nineteen thousand people! Their main activity is tourism and up to seventy percent of the town’s economy depends on it. The other thirty percent depends on the fisheries, and this was clearly observed by our guests when strolling along the fishing market on the main street. It was fun to play “recognize the fish,” after all we have seen them in the water already! Yellow fin tuna, tuna bonito, amber jack, grouper, red snapper and black tail mullet were recognized, among others. A large number of lava gulls, great blue herons, pelicans and sea lions were of course part of what we saw near by; they were all waiting to get some of the leftovers thrown in the water by the local fishermen.
But the visit to town was only the last part of the morning, as the beginning of it was used to explore the highlands of Santa Cruz. Today we visited the giant Scalesia forest, also known as the Giant daisy's forest. There were two big sink holes near by that we explored fully, enjoying one of the best bird watching opportunities of the trip. Later, we visited the area where giant tortoises are found in the wild. We all had a wonderful time birding and giant “tortoising”! We found the famous woodpecker finch, vermillion flycatcher and yellow warblers, and of course many, many giant tortoises!
Our lunch took place in one of the local restaurants located literally in the middle of nowhere. This was a nice location, as we had the mountains surrounding us, as well as a wonderful view of some islands in the distance.
During the afternoon, we visited the Charles Darwin Station and saw the cutest giant tortoise babies ever! They have been raised in captivity, and would be part of the group of tortoises that eventually would be repatriated back to the island.
By the end of the day, everyone spread all over town to do whatever they felt like doing, shopping or simply contemplating the picturesque bay from the comfort of a nice bar or restaurant located along the main street of my home town.
We observed in the horizon the view of a town; it was the colourful town of Puerto Ayora at six thirty in the morning. It was just awakening; little by little we saw the lights being turn off after the quiet night. At this time of the year trees are fully foliaged and flowered, adorning mainly the main streets in town. As we drove our way through, we noticed the nice contrast of colours on the tall trees. Most of them were introduced by the locals as part of what their brought long ago when coming to the Galápagos for the first time. Puerto Ayora is the town that holds the largest population in the Archipelago, between seventeen to nineteen thousand people! Their main activity is tourism and up to seventy percent of the town’s economy depends on it. The other thirty percent depends on the fisheries, and this was clearly observed by our guests when strolling along the fishing market on the main street. It was fun to play “recognize the fish,” after all we have seen them in the water already! Yellow fin tuna, tuna bonito, amber jack, grouper, red snapper and black tail mullet were recognized, among others. A large number of lava gulls, great blue herons, pelicans and sea lions were of course part of what we saw near by; they were all waiting to get some of the leftovers thrown in the water by the local fishermen.
But the visit to town was only the last part of the morning, as the beginning of it was used to explore the highlands of Santa Cruz. Today we visited the giant Scalesia forest, also known as the Giant daisy's forest. There were two big sink holes near by that we explored fully, enjoying one of the best bird watching opportunities of the trip. Later, we visited the area where giant tortoises are found in the wild. We all had a wonderful time birding and giant “tortoising”! We found the famous woodpecker finch, vermillion flycatcher and yellow warblers, and of course many, many giant tortoises!
Our lunch took place in one of the local restaurants located literally in the middle of nowhere. This was a nice location, as we had the mountains surrounding us, as well as a wonderful view of some islands in the distance.
During the afternoon, we visited the Charles Darwin Station and saw the cutest giant tortoise babies ever! They have been raised in captivity, and would be part of the group of tortoises that eventually would be repatriated back to the island.
By the end of the day, everyone spread all over town to do whatever they felt like doing, shopping or simply contemplating the picturesque bay from the comfort of a nice bar or restaurant located along the main street of my home town.
