Santa Cruz Island
Today we visited my home town, Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz Island. Giant tortoises and land iguanas were waiting for us at the Charles Darwin Research Station rearing and breeding center. There we met our celebrity giant tortoises: Lonesome George, the last one from Pinta Island, and Diego, the proud father of many babies from Espanola Island. The little “giant” tortoises, born just a few months ago, could not be dismissed; they look exactly like the big ones but in small copies that make everyone smile. We could not finish our morning without getting some keepsake from the islands: t-shirts, books, and handicrafts with the emblematic species.
Going up to the highlands we were expecting some rain, but instead of that we had a high cloud cover with a perfect view of Isabela, Pinzon, Rábida and Santiago Islands. As soon as we arrived to the farm of the colonist Miguel Angel Arias, we explored the 600-meter long lava tunnel, formed a couple million of years ago by the volcanic eruptions. After enjoying our delicious meal, we went to look for giant tortoises in the wild and also found a family of white cheeked pintails ducks in a pond. They were so cute, these little chicks, that no mother could resist saying “ahhhh”!
Out last visit was to the “twins,” also known as Los Gemelos in Spanish, which are geological formations in the highlands. These structures are surrounded by the giant Scalesia, our endemic Daisy tree. Here at this site we found a couple of big surprises, a woodpecker finch looking for food and a vermilion flycatcher.
I’m looking forward to visiting the west side of the archipelago, its natural beauties that will take me back five years ago when I was living among flightless cormorants and Galápagos penguins.
