Santa Cruz Island
It has been a short week, but within a few days, we have encountered so many animals and plants that are new to most of us and unique to this part of the world. We have used the word endemic more than a hundred times, because this archipelago has a high degree of endemism. And the key is its isolation. Far apart form the rest of the world, species evolved in unique ways and many of them are no where else in the world.
One of our endemic reptiles is the Galápagos land iguana. We saw a few in the wild, the very first day, and today we got to see them in the Charles Darwin Research Station, where there is a breeding program to restore their populations. We also met George and Gringo, two famous male tortoises that live in the breeding center.
We crossed the island by bus, to get to Baltra, the airport island. On the way to the northern shore of Santa Cruz, we passed by the pit craters, interesting sink holes in the highlands with an endemic forest of giant Scalesias.
We are leaving Galápagos today, but these islands will never leave us.
It has been a short week, but within a few days, we have encountered so many animals and plants that are new to most of us and unique to this part of the world. We have used the word endemic more than a hundred times, because this archipelago has a high degree of endemism. And the key is its isolation. Far apart form the rest of the world, species evolved in unique ways and many of them are no where else in the world.
One of our endemic reptiles is the Galápagos land iguana. We saw a few in the wild, the very first day, and today we got to see them in the Charles Darwin Research Station, where there is a breeding program to restore their populations. We also met George and Gringo, two famous male tortoises that live in the breeding center.
We crossed the island by bus, to get to Baltra, the airport island. On the way to the northern shore of Santa Cruz, we passed by the pit craters, interesting sink holes in the highlands with an endemic forest of giant Scalesias.
We are leaving Galápagos today, but these islands will never leave us.
