Santa Cruz Island
Today we had our land tortoise day. We had a day full of excitement, learning about the lives and adventures of these unique animals which are the emblem of the archipelago.
Since 1535 and on into the early 1900s, pirates, buccaneers, whalers and early settlers used land tortoises as food and their blubber was used for their oil lamps for a couple of centuries or more. Many thousands of them were killed. When the Park Service was established in 1959, and the park rangers started to survey the status of the wildlife in the Galápagos, they were lucky enough that there were some left to start the restoration program! The Park service, in cooperation with the FCD, has been managing one of the most successful breeding programs for wild animals in the world.
Several thousands of babies born in the center have been returned to their island of origin. The program started in the early 1960s. We have been growing Galápagos tortoises in captivity for more than 45 years and still we have some years to go.
We saw the happy town of Puerto Ayora after we saw the center and then took buses to go up to the highlands and spend the afternoon up there. We walked through a great real lava tube, we had a great lunch at a farm, and we shared some time with the tortoises in the wild.
The highlight of the afternoon for our keen bird watchers were of course the wood pecker finch, tree finches, cactus finches, Galápagos flight catchers, mocking birds, and Galápagos doves, among others. Some of our guest really loved plants and had a wonderful time exploring the botanical richness of the lush highlands.
We had highlights for all the interests and at the end of the day we were all vey happy and pleased with what we had seen and experienced.
Of course shopping in Puerto Ayora and helping the local economy was another highlight for a lot of our guests.
Today we had our land tortoise day. We had a day full of excitement, learning about the lives and adventures of these unique animals which are the emblem of the archipelago.
Since 1535 and on into the early 1900s, pirates, buccaneers, whalers and early settlers used land tortoises as food and their blubber was used for their oil lamps for a couple of centuries or more. Many thousands of them were killed. When the Park Service was established in 1959, and the park rangers started to survey the status of the wildlife in the Galápagos, they were lucky enough that there were some left to start the restoration program! The Park service, in cooperation with the FCD, has been managing one of the most successful breeding programs for wild animals in the world.
Several thousands of babies born in the center have been returned to their island of origin. The program started in the early 1960s. We have been growing Galápagos tortoises in captivity for more than 45 years and still we have some years to go.
We saw the happy town of Puerto Ayora after we saw the center and then took buses to go up to the highlands and spend the afternoon up there. We walked through a great real lava tube, we had a great lunch at a farm, and we shared some time with the tortoises in the wild.
The highlight of the afternoon for our keen bird watchers were of course the wood pecker finch, tree finches, cactus finches, Galápagos flight catchers, mocking birds, and Galápagos doves, among others. Some of our guest really loved plants and had a wonderful time exploring the botanical richness of the lush highlands.
We had highlights for all the interests and at the end of the day we were all vey happy and pleased with what we had seen and experienced.
Of course shopping in Puerto Ayora and helping the local economy was another highlight for a lot of our guests.
