Santa Cruz
Our day onboard the National Geographic Islander started with a grey sky and Garua (our local dry season mist) coming upon the ship. Our fellow travelers had a new day before them with surprises in store. We embarked on our excursion into Port Ayora, the largest town in the Galápagos, to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station. We proceeded to learn of the incredible plan of restoration of the Galápagos giant tortoise population from rearing and breeding in captivity. How could this small moving rock in front of us eventually become one of the largest reptiles on earth?
Lonesome George was shy as we contemplated conservation and the protection of these creatures. A gecko jumped onto a guest apparently ready to hear our plan for the preservation of the Galápagos. We entered a tortoise corral with the various large dome shaped individuals stretching their necks out to get a closer look at us. It is hard not to look straight into the eyes of these ancient beings and not see wisdom. It is entirely possible that one of these individuals looked Darwin in the eye long ago.
After experiencing how the local Isleños live and work here we were on our way again, however this time to the high ground of Santa Cruz. Drastic and beautiful are the words that can be used to describe the change from the coast to the lush highlands. With the different vegetation zones we head from an arid coast to a green area with bracken ferns and orchids. A hearty barbeque awaits us, however we explore a lava tube within the earth created in the relatively recent geologic past. As we rise from the tube into the sunlight, we feel our hunger reach an apex and we are greeted with a traditional Galápagos meal.
Donned in rubber boots, it is time to explore again in the Garua soaked highlands. We search for giant tortoises in the wild and we are not disappointed. 1, 2, 6, 15, our count continues to rise, then we disembark the bus for a closer experience.
It is truly magical to be accepted as part of a wild creature’s environment. We continue this journey higher, encountering twin pit craters and a cloud forest of Scalesia trees from the sunflower family. Birds surround us upon the trail and the Darwin finches give us a presentation of aerial acrobatics stopping just centimeters from our collective eyes. We witness the woodpecker finch as it picks among the vegetation forever searching for it subsistence. It is difficult to truly understand survival until you live it or observe the world around us.
As we make our way back to the coast the sun starts to peep out truly completing our expedition into change.
