Santa Cruz Island
It is a beautiful morning. Outside our windows, we can see many small ships anchored in academy bay, and in the back, we get our first glimpse of Puerto Ayora town, the biggest human settlement in the Galápagos. We are all ready and eager to explore this town, but first we are heading to one of the most important places in the Galápagos, the Charles Darwin Research Station. All of our guests wanted to go and see the symbols of the Galápagos, the giant tortoises!
Our first stop was the breeding center where we could observe the baby tortoises from different islands. Some of them were running, climbing on top of one another, and others were just resting peacefully as if we were not even there observing them. As we continue our trail, we encountered perhaps the most famous tortoise of them all: lonesome George. However, he is not so lonesome anymore, because we found him with his two girl companions. Hopefully, the closeness of the two females would interest lonesome George and eventually safe the subspecies from extinction. We also were able to see another two giant tortoises and some land iguanas. Well, after this nice walk, it is time to have some refreshment and shopping too!
After a nice morning in town, we chose a perfect spot to have lunch. It is a nice little restaurant located in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Some of our guests took the advantage of the swimming pool, while others like myself decided to engage in a friendly (ok, maybe it got a little too competitive…) game of volleyball. Soon after lunch, we drove up the main road towards a farm where giant tortoises roam undisturbed by humans. There were so many of them that they could even be observed along the road, and of course a lot more within the farm. These giants walked all through the farm without any concern of our presence, and some of them even posed for us. They are truly amazing creatures, and it seems as if time stopped or slowed down in this part of the planet. It was truly a remarkable adventure!
It is a beautiful morning. Outside our windows, we can see many small ships anchored in academy bay, and in the back, we get our first glimpse of Puerto Ayora town, the biggest human settlement in the Galápagos. We are all ready and eager to explore this town, but first we are heading to one of the most important places in the Galápagos, the Charles Darwin Research Station. All of our guests wanted to go and see the symbols of the Galápagos, the giant tortoises!
Our first stop was the breeding center where we could observe the baby tortoises from different islands. Some of them were running, climbing on top of one another, and others were just resting peacefully as if we were not even there observing them. As we continue our trail, we encountered perhaps the most famous tortoise of them all: lonesome George. However, he is not so lonesome anymore, because we found him with his two girl companions. Hopefully, the closeness of the two females would interest lonesome George and eventually safe the subspecies from extinction. We also were able to see another two giant tortoises and some land iguanas. Well, after this nice walk, it is time to have some refreshment and shopping too!
After a nice morning in town, we chose a perfect spot to have lunch. It is a nice little restaurant located in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Some of our guests took the advantage of the swimming pool, while others like myself decided to engage in a friendly (ok, maybe it got a little too competitive…) game of volleyball. Soon after lunch, we drove up the main road towards a farm where giant tortoises roam undisturbed by humans. There were so many of them that they could even be observed along the road, and of course a lot more within the farm. These giants walked all through the farm without any concern of our presence, and some of them even posed for us. They are truly amazing creatures, and it seems as if time stopped or slowed down in this part of the planet. It was truly a remarkable adventure!
