Santa Cruz Island
It is always very nice for me to return to my place of birth, Santa Cruz Island, after having been traveling around the rest of the “Enchanted Islands.” We woke up and looked through our windows at a spectacular sunny, just perfect for visiting the Charles Darwin Research Station, home to those enigmatic creatures that give their name to this group of islands – the giant tortoises (or Galápagos, as named by the Spanish).
Giant tortoises are among the largest reptiles on earth, however, despite their size, they have suffered from enormous devastation during the whaling era that took place a couple of centuries ago. Nowadays, their fate seems to be improving as their enemies have become their protectors, and thanks to the joining of forces of institutions like the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Station, the number of individuals from certain locations has increased enormously. Successful so far…..Bravo!
After visiting a few baby tortoises and some of the larger ones, we finally found ourselves taking pictures of the famous “Lonesome George”: a saddle-back shelled tortoise from the island of Pinta who is now considered to be the vary last of his race. He was pictured actively pursuing the Park ranger who was bringing breakfast to him and the other two tortoises in his coral: a couple of females from a closely related race that are his company in the fading hope of breeding purposes with no positive results so far.
Leaving the tortoises behind, we began a walk through a very multicultural town that offers visitors the opportunity to soak in some of the local culture as well as buy handicrafts and hand-painted T-shirts, thus supporting the local economy.
We used buses as our transportation to go up into the highlands of this large island, where everything is lush, green and tropical (stark contrast to the environments encountered so far). By this tim,e we were hungry, yes - and hot! The relief on reaching our destination was wonderful: drinks available, shade, breeze and a swimming pool also… Some of us played volleyball, and everybody had fun! Finally our delicious lunch was served. Energies replenished with happy tummies, we were ready to get back on the buses and continue our adventure, a ride up to where the tortoises have no limits and roam freely in green pastures amongst endemic plants. A few birds fly up in front of us showing no fear, as is the case of most of the creatures that inhabit this corner of the world.
As the islands are volcanic in origin, very interesting lava tunnels have been formed allowing us to explore them as though looking for Inca treasures, penetrating deep into the earth through a mile-long natural subway to finish our fantastic adventure on the island of Santa Cruz.
It is always very nice for me to return to my place of birth, Santa Cruz Island, after having been traveling around the rest of the “Enchanted Islands.” We woke up and looked through our windows at a spectacular sunny, just perfect for visiting the Charles Darwin Research Station, home to those enigmatic creatures that give their name to this group of islands – the giant tortoises (or Galápagos, as named by the Spanish).
Giant tortoises are among the largest reptiles on earth, however, despite their size, they have suffered from enormous devastation during the whaling era that took place a couple of centuries ago. Nowadays, their fate seems to be improving as their enemies have become their protectors, and thanks to the joining of forces of institutions like the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Station, the number of individuals from certain locations has increased enormously. Successful so far…..Bravo!
After visiting a few baby tortoises and some of the larger ones, we finally found ourselves taking pictures of the famous “Lonesome George”: a saddle-back shelled tortoise from the island of Pinta who is now considered to be the vary last of his race. He was pictured actively pursuing the Park ranger who was bringing breakfast to him and the other two tortoises in his coral: a couple of females from a closely related race that are his company in the fading hope of breeding purposes with no positive results so far.
Leaving the tortoises behind, we began a walk through a very multicultural town that offers visitors the opportunity to soak in some of the local culture as well as buy handicrafts and hand-painted T-shirts, thus supporting the local economy.
We used buses as our transportation to go up into the highlands of this large island, where everything is lush, green and tropical (stark contrast to the environments encountered so far). By this tim,e we were hungry, yes - and hot! The relief on reaching our destination was wonderful: drinks available, shade, breeze and a swimming pool also… Some of us played volleyball, and everybody had fun! Finally our delicious lunch was served. Energies replenished with happy tummies, we were ready to get back on the buses and continue our adventure, a ride up to where the tortoises have no limits and roam freely in green pastures amongst endemic plants. A few birds fly up in front of us showing no fear, as is the case of most of the creatures that inhabit this corner of the world.
As the islands are volcanic in origin, very interesting lava tunnels have been formed allowing us to explore them as though looking for Inca treasures, penetrating deep into the earth through a mile-long natural subway to finish our fantastic adventure on the island of Santa Cruz.
