Santa Cruz Island
Early in morning, we woke up in Puerto Ayora, the economic capital of the Galápagos Islands. This is where we come to look for the Galápagos giant tortoises. We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station in the morning and saw the captive breeding center and learned about the program that saved the tortoises from extinction. We talked about the captive breeding program for land iguanas that has already been successful. The famous giant tortoises Lonesome George and Diego where the stars of the morning…we had the chance to taste the flavor of town in our free time, the fishermen dock, the main street with pelicans, frigate birds and sea lions enjoying the scraps of fish they got from the fisherman.
We then boarded our buses and headed up to the highlands. We explored a lava tunnel, and then we all had a delicious lunch in an open air restaurant. While eating we spotted a Galápagos flycatcher trying to fight off its own reflection in a large mirror…
Our afternoon offered a chance to see giant tortoises in the wild. In a nearby forest we found quite a few, some of them wandering through the vegetation by themselves while another group enjoyed a bath in the lagoon. Then we got to see geological formations, known as “Los Gemelos” in the highest part of the island. They gave us the opportunity to talk about rocks once again; the walk was through a Scalescia or giant daisy forest. It was a great way to finish our day in Santa Cruz Island.
