Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz is a beautiful island and the second largest in the archipelago. It also has the largest population of humans among the Islands, so it has become the economical capital of Galápagos. The city of Puerto Ayora is the home of the Galápagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station. These two institutions work together for the conservation of the Galápagos. The Station provides scientific advice and the Park Service makes decisions. They work as a team, as partners in conservation. Their main goal is the preservation of this Natural World Heritage site.
In the morning we disembarked to board local buses and explored the highlands of Santa Cruz. Soon we found giant tortoises in the wild, and learned about their ways. After this amazing experience up in the highlands, we had lunch at Altair, a restaurant with a friendly atmosphere run by longtime residents of Santa Cruz.
The famous Lonesome George and Super Diego were the highlights of the afternoon. These two individuals are living icons of conservation. George is the last giant tortoise of its particular subspecies and Diego came back to the Galápagos after living for many decades at the San Diego Zoo.
We learned about the successful breeding programs of Galápagos giant tortoises and Galápagos land iguanas. These programs have been running for more than 40 years, with a lot of hard work and commitment. Our guests realized how important these programs are for reestablishing and repairing the damage that the Galápagos wildlife sustained in the last centuries. For a long time the islands were exploited by pirates, whalers, sealers and by the introduced animals they brought with them.
We also visited the baby giant tortoises, the bright future of the islands. After the visit we had a great time supporting the local economy with our motto: shop until you drop. Finally, we returned on board the National Geographic Endeavour. What a day we had in paradise!
