Santa Cruz Island
This picturesque island is the second largest one in the archipelago. It has the largest population of inhabitants and it is the economical capital of Galápagos as well. Puerto Ayora, its capital, is home of the Galápagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Station. These two institutions work together for the conservation of the Galápagos. The Station provides scientific advice and the Park Service makes decisions. These institutions work as a team, as partners in conservation. Their main goal is the preservation of this Natural World Heritage site.
This morning we learned about the successful breeding programs of Galápagos Giant tortoises and Galápagos land iguanas. These programs have been running for more than 40 years, a showcase of hard work and commitment. Our guests realized how important these programs are in trying to reestablish or repair the damage that was made to the Galápagos wildlife in the last centuries. For a long time the islands were exploited by pirates, whalers, sealers and by the introduced animals they brought with them.
We started our visit with the baby Giant tortoises’ pens. We were told by a Galápagos National Park warden that there were 103 baby tortoises from Espanola Island recently repatriated to their Island, and that very soon other groups from Santiago, Pinzon and Santa Cruz islands will be repatriated as well.
The famous Lonesome George and Super Diego were next. These two individuals represent living icons of conservation. George is the last one of his particular subspecies and Diego came back to the Galápagos after living for many decades in the San Diego Zoological Society. After the visit, with our minds replenished with good news, we started to walk back to the town. Many guests had a great time supporting the local economy by shopping for Galápagos souvenirs or having drinks along the way. Others just enjoyed watching the locals doing their daily activities.
By noon we met at the town’s central park to board local buses that took us to the highlands of Santa Cruz. We had lunch in “Altair,” a friendly atmosphere restaurant run by long-time residents of Santa Cruz. Soon after lunch we boarded the buses once again, this time to see the Giant tortoises in the wild and to visit a couple of famous geological formations known as the Pit craters. After this amazing experience up in the highlands we came back to town late in the afternoon to finally come back on board the National Geographic Polaris. What a day we had at this amazing place!
This picturesque island is the second largest one in the archipelago. It has the largest population of inhabitants and it is the economical capital of Galápagos as well. Puerto Ayora, its capital, is home of the Galápagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Station. These two institutions work together for the conservation of the Galápagos. The Station provides scientific advice and the Park Service makes decisions. These institutions work as a team, as partners in conservation. Their main goal is the preservation of this Natural World Heritage site.
This morning we learned about the successful breeding programs of Galápagos Giant tortoises and Galápagos land iguanas. These programs have been running for more than 40 years, a showcase of hard work and commitment. Our guests realized how important these programs are in trying to reestablish or repair the damage that was made to the Galápagos wildlife in the last centuries. For a long time the islands were exploited by pirates, whalers, sealers and by the introduced animals they brought with them.
We started our visit with the baby Giant tortoises’ pens. We were told by a Galápagos National Park warden that there were 103 baby tortoises from Espanola Island recently repatriated to their Island, and that very soon other groups from Santiago, Pinzon and Santa Cruz islands will be repatriated as well.
The famous Lonesome George and Super Diego were next. These two individuals represent living icons of conservation. George is the last one of his particular subspecies and Diego came back to the Galápagos after living for many decades in the San Diego Zoological Society. After the visit, with our minds replenished with good news, we started to walk back to the town. Many guests had a great time supporting the local economy by shopping for Galápagos souvenirs or having drinks along the way. Others just enjoyed watching the locals doing their daily activities.
By noon we met at the town’s central park to board local buses that took us to the highlands of Santa Cruz. We had lunch in “Altair,” a friendly atmosphere restaurant run by long-time residents of Santa Cruz. Soon after lunch we boarded the buses once again, this time to see the Giant tortoises in the wild and to visit a couple of famous geological formations known as the Pit craters. After this amazing experience up in the highlands we came back to town late in the afternoon to finally come back on board the National Geographic Polaris. What a day we had at this amazing place!
