Santa Cruz Island
We dropped the anchor in the waters of Academy Bay before dawn. Within minutes, however, the sky was brightening and the town was clearly visible. Civilization was in sight after days of exploring some of the most remote areas of the National Park.
The town of Puerto Ayora is where the National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station maintain their headquarters. The Galápagos giant tortoise rearing centre was our objective for the morning, and the tortoises were getting antsy. They demonstrated this by hanging out near the doors to their enclosures, or otherwise wistfully watching their feeding platforms. Wednesdays are when food appears, and adds excitement to their days.
We also got excited when food appeared, at lunch, up in the highlands, after a swim. The greenness of the upper reaches of Santa Cruz Island was a welcome change from the dry coastal shoreline we had become familiar with over the last few days.
The rainy season has begun! The Palo Santa trees were leafed out and flowers were popping up all over the rearing centre in the morning. In the highlands we used the rubber boots provided to protect squeaky white shoes from the iron-rich volcanic soil. Not that it was much mud to deal with at all, really. The light but definite rain fell on us as we searched out the origin of a deep, regular bellow coming from behind the shrubs and trees, and found a huge male mounted over a female, whose head had been completely retracted into her shell.
Back down in town once more, the humidity left some folks drained, but others supported the local economy with dedication and perseverance.
We dropped the anchor in the waters of Academy Bay before dawn. Within minutes, however, the sky was brightening and the town was clearly visible. Civilization was in sight after days of exploring some of the most remote areas of the National Park.
The town of Puerto Ayora is where the National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station maintain their headquarters. The Galápagos giant tortoise rearing centre was our objective for the morning, and the tortoises were getting antsy. They demonstrated this by hanging out near the doors to their enclosures, or otherwise wistfully watching their feeding platforms. Wednesdays are when food appears, and adds excitement to their days.
We also got excited when food appeared, at lunch, up in the highlands, after a swim. The greenness of the upper reaches of Santa Cruz Island was a welcome change from the dry coastal shoreline we had become familiar with over the last few days.
The rainy season has begun! The Palo Santa trees were leafed out and flowers were popping up all over the rearing centre in the morning. In the highlands we used the rubber boots provided to protect squeaky white shoes from the iron-rich volcanic soil. Not that it was much mud to deal with at all, really. The light but definite rain fell on us as we searched out the origin of a deep, regular bellow coming from behind the shrubs and trees, and found a huge male mounted over a female, whose head had been completely retracted into her shell.
Back down in town once more, the humidity left some folks drained, but others supported the local economy with dedication and perseverance.
