Santa Cruz Island
Our trip has been amazing! Since the beginning of our trip we have been surrounded by wildlife every time we went on shore. Marine iguanas have been the most common, especially on Fernandina Island. Sea lions where spotted on all the islands, and blue footed boobies and frigate birds have been everyday sightings.
Today we are visiting Santa Cruz Inland and here, things are different. This is the second largest island in the Galápagos archipelago, and this very island is home to a human settlement. Here we have farming areas as well as cattle ranches, but that’s not all, most of the island is national park with endemic organisms such as the emblematic Galápagos giant tortoise.
In the morning we visited the highlands of Santa Cruz, and as part of our expedition we also include the local communities and a sugar cane press. The visit to the sugar cane press was lots of fun, especially learning the process of making sugar and cane liqueur. Later on we explored another area of the highlands with forests and a large pit crater.
This island is also home to the Charles Darwin Research Station, the institution that carries out scientific research in the Galápagos. Their achievements have been monumental, and thanks to them we have restored many endangered ecosystems. One of The best examples to mention is the restoration of the Española giant tortoises and the Galápagos land iguanas. These populations of reptiles were close to extinction, but today we are certain they are back to a healthy population.
