Santa Cruz Island
While approaching the island of Santa Cruz, we could appreciate the many colors of Puerto Ayora from a distance. Due to rain and mist, the town itself displayed like an impressionist painting, giving a special touch to the landscape. Our main goal today is to observe the giant tortoises; we all became very impatient for the imminent encounter with the famous creatures, emblems of the Galápagos.
After spending the first part of the morning getting to know the Charles Darwin facilities, we then all gathered at the main town’s plaza to board our buses. The end of the road took us to a hidden restaurant, surrounded by giant trees and lush forest.
Right after lunch, we encountered no less than forty-five tortoises in the wild! Several species of finches were surrounding the gentle reptiles, as they are known to have a symbiotic “cleaning behavior” attached to them.
As we got higher, the forest became even denser, and green was the predominant color of the surroundings. Accompanied with a dense mist, it felt like we were in a tropical rainforest.
After exploring the highlands of Santa Cruz, we started to make our way back to town; the satisfaction of having seen it all simply made us wonder how many places on planet earth remain like this one? The answer is not really encouraging, unfortunately.
It is six in the afternoon and we are all back on board, ready to start sailing towards a new destination. The island of Santa Cruz is now a distant location, but the memories that we carry from it will stay with us for a long time.
While approaching the island of Santa Cruz, we could appreciate the many colors of Puerto Ayora from a distance. Due to rain and mist, the town itself displayed like an impressionist painting, giving a special touch to the landscape. Our main goal today is to observe the giant tortoises; we all became very impatient for the imminent encounter with the famous creatures, emblems of the Galápagos.
After spending the first part of the morning getting to know the Charles Darwin facilities, we then all gathered at the main town’s plaza to board our buses. The end of the road took us to a hidden restaurant, surrounded by giant trees and lush forest.
Right after lunch, we encountered no less than forty-five tortoises in the wild! Several species of finches were surrounding the gentle reptiles, as they are known to have a symbiotic “cleaning behavior” attached to them.
As we got higher, the forest became even denser, and green was the predominant color of the surroundings. Accompanied with a dense mist, it felt like we were in a tropical rainforest.
After exploring the highlands of Santa Cruz, we started to make our way back to town; the satisfaction of having seen it all simply made us wonder how many places on planet earth remain like this one? The answer is not really encouraging, unfortunately.
It is six in the afternoon and we are all back on board, ready to start sailing towards a new destination. The island of Santa Cruz is now a distant location, but the memories that we carry from it will stay with us for a long time.
