Santa Cruz Island
The land of the giant land tortoise, the emblem of the Galápagos Islands: today we visited the wonderful island of Santa Cruz, where our naturalist staff had a lot of surprises ready for us.
First thing in the morning we disembarked at the happy town of Puerto Ayora and boarded buses to go to the green, lush highlands. We visited a sugar cane farm where a very warm local family, the Cabrera’s, shared their lifestyle with us. It was a very enriching and educational experience and all our guests tried the “guarapo,” “panela” and local coffee.
Another group was taken to a local school where kids learn with nature; finches and mockingbirds go into their classrooms, and the children learn about the wildlife on the islands.
After we got together in “Cerro Mesa” we visited a gigantic sink hole and later went swimming at another ranch and enjoyed a delicious grilled-chicken lunch.
The highlight of the afternoon was the Charles Darwin Research Station, where we saw the giant tortoise rearing center and learned about the successful efforts to restore the dynasty of these gentle reptiles.
Shopping in town was great and we all came back exhausted and happy to enjoy dinner and afterwards some dancing with the great local musicians and dancers who came to entertain us.
What a full day!
