Santa Cruz Island
Early in the morning after a delicious breakfast, we disembarked onto the town pier, in the town of Puerto Ayora. After a dry landing we took a five minute bus ride to the Charles Darwin Research Station.
Near the CDRS is the tortoise rearing center, a very interesting place where one can see several species of giant tortoises, Lonesome George (the last tortoise of his kind), and land iguanas. Working closely with the Galapagos National Park, they help develop conservation programs to increase the population of species in risk along with eradication programs against introduced species that have become aggressive, causing problems to the endemic flora and fauna.
After a great morning visit we prepared to take a bus ride up into the highlands of Santa Cruz. As we gained altitude, we could appreciate the changes of the different vegetation zones from the bus. It was getting greener and more humid.
We had many options for the afternoon expedition; some of us went to explore the green grasslands of a private farm that has giant tortoises roaming on the premises. Others went to see two pit craters (sink holes) and walk through the giant Scalesia forest, also known as the milky forest, which is the habitat of the woodpecker finch. Other species such as tree finches were spotted and we also learned a lot about the flora of the humid zone.
Happy to see the green side of the archipelago, we rode back into town and headed back to the National Geographic Endeavour for a full evening of good company and local music!
