Santa Cruz Island
It was a nice morning, with a warm breeze typical to the season and the will to go and explore a new place in the Galápagos; all these were the ingredients that fueled us during this part of our expedition. In the morning, we started by paying a visit to the Charles Darwin research station, home to the most famous of all Galápagos giant tortoises, the legendary lonesome George. Here we also visited the giant tortoises breeding centre, home to hundreds of baby tortoises from different islands.
Breeding programs are carried out on different islands, but Santa Cruz is pioneering in this field of conservation and, thanks to these efforts, today many of the former endangered species are becoming healthy populations.
Later on we took buses to visit the highlands, but before we explored the region we had a great time in one of the local restaurants for a great lunch with local flavors. After lunch we headed to explore the highland ecosystems. Before reaching our destination we passed through the farming areas of this island.
The highlights of this evergreen region can be many. For instance, the giant daisies forest that happens to be nearly atop the island is just a remnant of what used to be before human activities. Here you can also admire the stunning geological formations, a pair of pit craters known as Los Gemelos.
As we concluded our visit to Los Gemelos we headed to the giant tortoise’s territory. In this place we could admire these enormous long-lived reptiles, placidly grazing here and there as they moved about at an unhurried pace.
These types of giant tortoises are forest dwellers and you find them in the highlands where green vegetation is available all year round as well as ponds for wallowing with many types of birds including whimbrels and pin tail ducks.
Just another day in paradise.
