Santa Cruz Island
Today was our tortoise day. We began by going to the Charles Darwin Research Station in the morning; there we had a great time observing diverse species of giant tortoises from almost all the Galápagos Islands. We saw the tortoises that came from Española Island with their characteristic saddle-back shell; the island is low and arid and these tortoises have the front of their shells raised, therefore more skin is exposed to better cool off, besides that, their neck and head have more space to be fully stretched and in this way being able to reach the leaves of the plants these tortoises eat.
Another variety of tortoise has dome shape carapace, it’s found on islands where vegetation is abundant and lush, like Santa Cruz Island; this type of tortoise is the largest one and may reach body weight up to 600 pounds. We also found the intermediate form found on islands with semi-arid conditions. So we got to see all three shapes in one morning.
This morning we also got to see finches endemic to Galápagos. We observed several ground finches looking for food on the ground, and some cactus finches feeding on the fruits and flowers of the cactus. After the Darwin Center we walked into town and had a pleasant stroll, it gave us the opportunity to learn a bit more on the way people live here in Galápagos.
As our morning in Puerto Ayora ended we went to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island and explored the interior of a lava tunnel before lunch. For the afternoon we went looking for giant tortoises in the wild; these animals have very little contact with humans, and are quite shy compared to those at the Darwin Center; we found them feeding on grasses and vegetation that grows naturally here. One of the interesting aspects of this island is the great variety of vegetation zones, from the low arid zone to the high moist zone. So as went up higher we got to the giant daisies forest which is surrounding a couple of large sink holes. We call these two craters the “Gemelos” meaning “the twins” since there two of them.
Here in the forest we found several species of land birds; we found a vermillion flycatcher, Galápagos doves, Galápagos mockingbirds, large- and small-billed tree finches. This is a cloud forest; the trees were covered by moss, and lichens of different kinds, as well as Galápagos orchids, which are just starting to bloom. Today we felt a bug contrast of greenery with the extreme arid conditions of the last two days.
We returned to our ship and the day ended in Santa Cruz with a great sunset.
