Santa Cruz Island
We woke up this morning with the view of the town of Puerto Ayora from our anchorage in the middle of Academy Bay. After several days of enjoying the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, we had almost forgotten that civilization exists!
We departed early for our visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station where we learned about the various conservation and protection programs being carried out in the Galapagos Islands. A wooden path through a typical arid zone forest led us to giant tortoises’ corrals. In hopes of saving them from extinction, giant tortoises have been bred at the Research Station since the 1960’s. A great favorite at the Research Station was undoubtedly ‘Lonesome George’. George is a large saddle-backed tortoise: the last survivor of the Pinta Island race.
After the visit to the Research Station, there was time to enjoy walking through the lively and picturesque town of Puerto Ayora. At the far end of town we boarded buses that took us to the highlands for our afternoon visit. The Santa Cruz highlands are spectacular, lush and green. It was hard to believe we were still in the Galapagos. We had the unique opportunity to see wild tortoises in the humid zone. It was a delightful experience to admire these gentle giants in the misty afternoon.
Further along the road which crosses the island, at a different visitor’s site, many of us enjoyed the dramatic geological formations called ‘Los Gemelos’. These two huge collapsed craters are a product of the volcanic activity of these young islands. Many species of land bird were observed around this area: tree finches, Galapagos flycatchers, vermilion flycatchers and Galapagos doves, amongst others.
We certainly had a wonderful day. A day full of new experiences and happy memories!
We woke up this morning with the view of the town of Puerto Ayora from our anchorage in the middle of Academy Bay. After several days of enjoying the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, we had almost forgotten that civilization exists!
We departed early for our visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station where we learned about the various conservation and protection programs being carried out in the Galapagos Islands. A wooden path through a typical arid zone forest led us to giant tortoises’ corrals. In hopes of saving them from extinction, giant tortoises have been bred at the Research Station since the 1960’s. A great favorite at the Research Station was undoubtedly ‘Lonesome George’. George is a large saddle-backed tortoise: the last survivor of the Pinta Island race.
After the visit to the Research Station, there was time to enjoy walking through the lively and picturesque town of Puerto Ayora. At the far end of town we boarded buses that took us to the highlands for our afternoon visit. The Santa Cruz highlands are spectacular, lush and green. It was hard to believe we were still in the Galapagos. We had the unique opportunity to see wild tortoises in the humid zone. It was a delightful experience to admire these gentle giants in the misty afternoon.
Further along the road which crosses the island, at a different visitor’s site, many of us enjoyed the dramatic geological formations called ‘Los Gemelos’. These two huge collapsed craters are a product of the volcanic activity of these young islands. Many species of land bird were observed around this area: tree finches, Galapagos flycatchers, vermilion flycatchers and Galapagos doves, amongst others.
We certainly had a wonderful day. A day full of new experiences and happy memories!
