Santa Cruz Island
Our visit started at 8:00am this morning. One of our guests told me that he had been waiting a long time to see the amazing creatures that he was expecting to find today: the giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands. We disembarked on the town dock in Puerto Ayora, the capital for both conservation and tourism in the Galápagos. We walked from the entrance of the Galápagos National Park Service, and stopped to admire our first candelabra cacti, growing along the main trail. The guests were happy to see a pair of mockingbirds singing from the cactus' branch.
After a short visit at Van Straelen Interpretation Center, we went to see the donated tortoises that are used for the captive breeding program. Everyone was delighted that we could see the world’s most famous tortoise and conservation icon, Lonesome George. George is the last tortoise from the northern island of Pinta. Our naturalists explained the successful conservation programs that focus on captive breeding of both giant tortoises and land iguanas. We had some free time in town for shopping, and enjoyed the chance to see how the “Galápagueños” (the locals) make their living in this wonderful place.
The highlands were waiting for us for our afternoon outings. We had a delightful lunch in an open air restaurant and then took buses to “El Chato Reserve” where we entered tortoise territory. We had to hike about a half mile before we found these amazing reptiles, but the effort was worth the reward of photographing them in their natural habitat. The afternoon was hot but when we reached a small lagoon we found more tortoises and even a few water birds like white cheeked pintails and moorhens.
After the hike we went to the “Twins” or “Los Gemelos”. Our naturalists explained how these pit craters were formed and we took a walk through the Scalesia forest. Today those interested in finches could add a few more to their list: cactus, vegetarian, small and large tree, and small and medium ground finches were all seen. In addition we saw the brightly colored vermilion flycatchers and yellow warblers. Although we had a long day (and without the siesta we are now accustomed to!) we were very happy as we returned to the ship after these wonderful experiences on Santa Cruz Island.
Our visit started at 8:00am this morning. One of our guests told me that he had been waiting a long time to see the amazing creatures that he was expecting to find today: the giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands. We disembarked on the town dock in Puerto Ayora, the capital for both conservation and tourism in the Galápagos. We walked from the entrance of the Galápagos National Park Service, and stopped to admire our first candelabra cacti, growing along the main trail. The guests were happy to see a pair of mockingbirds singing from the cactus' branch.
After a short visit at Van Straelen Interpretation Center, we went to see the donated tortoises that are used for the captive breeding program. Everyone was delighted that we could see the world’s most famous tortoise and conservation icon, Lonesome George. George is the last tortoise from the northern island of Pinta. Our naturalists explained the successful conservation programs that focus on captive breeding of both giant tortoises and land iguanas. We had some free time in town for shopping, and enjoyed the chance to see how the “Galápagueños” (the locals) make their living in this wonderful place.
The highlands were waiting for us for our afternoon outings. We had a delightful lunch in an open air restaurant and then took buses to “El Chato Reserve” where we entered tortoise territory. We had to hike about a half mile before we found these amazing reptiles, but the effort was worth the reward of photographing them in their natural habitat. The afternoon was hot but when we reached a small lagoon we found more tortoises and even a few water birds like white cheeked pintails and moorhens.
After the hike we went to the “Twins” or “Los Gemelos”. Our naturalists explained how these pit craters were formed and we took a walk through the Scalesia forest. Today those interested in finches could add a few more to their list: cactus, vegetarian, small and large tree, and small and medium ground finches were all seen. In addition we saw the brightly colored vermilion flycatchers and yellow warblers. Although we had a long day (and without the siesta we are now accustomed to!) we were very happy as we returned to the ship after these wonderful experiences on Santa Cruz Island.
