Santa Cruz Island
It has been raining for several days now, this is the rainy season. The Galápagos get most of their fresh water during this time of the year, between January and May, where anywhere between one to four inches of rainfall benefit all the flora and fauna of the islands. The refreshment that is brought by this rain turns the island’s vegetation from a dull gray dormant color to an emerald bright green!
Today is the third day of our cruise on board the MS National Geographic Islander. We are anchored at Academy Bay, on Santa Cruz Island, home to the Galápagos National Park and Darwin Research Station headquarters.
We disembark early in the morning, and the humidity is evident. We are heading to the Giant tortoise rearing center, to meet the baby tortoises hatched at the center, together with famous Lonesome George and Espanola tortoises that reside at the center.
Here our guests are amazed to know how many tortoises have being brought back to their islands of origin, in a repatriation program started by the Park Service back in the 70s: about 4000 of them!
After leaving the rearing center we visit the town of Puerto Ayora and then we head to the highlands where we enjoy a delicious lunch.
Finally, we are ready for the big excitement of the day, to look for Giant Galápagos tortoises in the wild! Today we are lucky; we find a good couple dozen of them roaming freely on Santa Cruz highlands. These primitive reptiles are rather solitary, but during the rainy season they gather together around the fresh water ponds formed naturally by the rain, where they enjoy of a good mud bath!
So here we are, enjoying the company of these giants, the ones that give the name to the islands: Galápagos.
