Santa Cruz Island
We had another great day in the Galápagos Islands. Our expedition today began with a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. We had a nice walk through town before we arrived at the giant tortoises’ corrals. As we continued our hike we saw a number of baby giant tortoises, which are part of the breeding program carried out here. Conservation and restoration is very important in the Galápagos archipelago. These programs have helped to bring several species from the brink of extinction back to stable conditions.
Farther along the trail, we stopped to visit the Galápagos’ “most famous giant tortoise,” this is: Lonesome George. I consider this event of having George in plain view a sheer bit of luck. George is an icon for conservation in the Galápagos Islands and in the world. He is the very last individual left from a once large population of tortoises on Pinta Island. The disappearance of most of the individuals from Pinta is due to human-related activities, among them whale hunting and the need for fresh meat. This fresh meat was supplied by giant tortoises.
In the afternoon we headed to the highlands and had the opportunity to walk through a lava tunnel. This geological feature made us feel drawn to the island’s very origin in ancient times. After lunch, we moved on to the most attractive part of the outing: exploring the tortoise reserve in the wild. There were many of these giants in the area. Some of them were grazing close to a pond, while others foraged in the forest.
Later on we continued our journey and visited the scalesia forest, also known as giant daisies, located a little higher up the highlands. While we were right in the middle of the forest, we found ourselves surrounded by the sounds of many typical land birds. Among them we had the opportunity to spot the woodpecker finch! Here we also visited two large pit craters.
