Santa Cruz Island
We started with a delicious breakfast to have plenty of energy for today. Our first outing took place at the Darwin Station; we disembarked at the public pier, where we took buses for a five minute ride to the entrance of the Charles Darwin Station. We observed the living symbol of the Archipelago, the Giant tortoises called Galápagos by the Spanish do to the shape of their shells. Also we saw the only surviving male tortoise from Pinta Island, “lonesome George”. We observed many baby tortoises from different islands and some land iguanas as well, which are part of the rearing programs of the Charles Darwin Research Station and National Park Service.
At eleven we took a bus ride from Puerto Ayora, to go up to the highlands of Santa Cruz. We were surprised by the variety of micro climates that a single island can have! From the middle of our way to the lunch place, at the little town of Bellavista, some of our guests had the opportunity to do some mountain biking for more or less seven miles. At Tim and Anita’s place many enjoyed the pool and the Jacuzzi. Then we started our adventure to a beautiful geological formation, the “Pit Craters”, that local people call los Gemelos. After that we headed down to a place in the migratory route of giant tortoises, where we had the opportunity for the first time to observe this amazing animal in the wild. Our guests were surprised when they realized how different and unique is each island, also we saw the most attractive land bird only found up in the highlands, the wood pecker finch.
All on board we were visited by a local group of musicians and dancers, who played local songs; our guest also danced with them and enjoyed it a lot, a great way to celebrate St. Valentine in a remote paradise of the Pacific Ocean.
We started with a delicious breakfast to have plenty of energy for today. Our first outing took place at the Darwin Station; we disembarked at the public pier, where we took buses for a five minute ride to the entrance of the Charles Darwin Station. We observed the living symbol of the Archipelago, the Giant tortoises called Galápagos by the Spanish do to the shape of their shells. Also we saw the only surviving male tortoise from Pinta Island, “lonesome George”. We observed many baby tortoises from different islands and some land iguanas as well, which are part of the rearing programs of the Charles Darwin Research Station and National Park Service.
At eleven we took a bus ride from Puerto Ayora, to go up to the highlands of Santa Cruz. We were surprised by the variety of micro climates that a single island can have! From the middle of our way to the lunch place, at the little town of Bellavista, some of our guests had the opportunity to do some mountain biking for more or less seven miles. At Tim and Anita’s place many enjoyed the pool and the Jacuzzi. Then we started our adventure to a beautiful geological formation, the “Pit Craters”, that local people call los Gemelos. After that we headed down to a place in the migratory route of giant tortoises, where we had the opportunity for the first time to observe this amazing animal in the wild. Our guests were surprised when they realized how different and unique is each island, also we saw the most attractive land bird only found up in the highlands, the wood pecker finch.
All on board we were visited by a local group of musicians and dancers, who played local songs; our guest also danced with them and enjoyed it a lot, a great way to celebrate St. Valentine in a remote paradise of the Pacific Ocean.
