Santa Cruz Island
At this point in our journey we have visited many islands in this archipelago, some of them very old— around three million years— and others among the youngest, where the lava cooled off only few months ago. What an experience so far!
Today we are visiting a very important island in terms of scientific research and economy: this is Santa Cruz Island, where the Charles Darwin Research Station was established in 1964. Since then, this institution has been doing conservation work with great achievements.
One of the most important programs today is the restoration of the population of giant tortoises and land iguanas of different islands. One good example of the success of this program is the giant tortoises of Española Island.
We then traveled to the highlands of Santa Cruz. Here, we visited the Scalesias or giant daisy forest. This endemic forest has a particular charm hidden under the cool clouds: two pit craters formed by the collapse of the top layers of rocks. This is evidence of the volcanic past of the island.
Later, we visited the tortoises in the highlands; some of them were so big that we estimated a weight of over 400 pounds and a possible age of over 100 years!
Close to sunset we returned to Puerto Ayora where we could explore the town and meet the islanders.
