Santa Cruz Island
After a great breakfast we had a dry landing on the pier of “Puerto Ayora,” the largest of the Galápagos towns. Soon we took a bus towards the entrance of the Charles Darwin Research Station, where we able to learn about the projects to conserve the unique flora and fauna of the Galápagos. We also happened to see some of the giant tortoises in corrals. Famous characters of the station were also here, such as Lonesome George and Super Diego and some of the hatchlings that represent the efforts of conservation among the whole archipelago.
After a very enthusiastic visit, by midday we had a 45-minute bus ride towards the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, where some of us had the option to bike or have a walk for a couple of miles, until finally getting to a nice restaurant where we had lunch.
In the afternoon we explored further into the green highlands, this time getting to see the tortoises in the wild, mostly giant dome carapace males, because most of the females have gone down to the arid zone to lay eggs.
We also had the option to visit the “twin holes” (collapse of a magma chamber), surrounded by the cloud forest (Giant Scalesia trees) which are home of many species of Darwin´s finches.
Today we had a wonderful expedition where we saw the green side of the islands, knowing that there are many efforts to conserve the pristine nature of the enchanted islands.
