Today we spent the day on Santa Cruz Island, which is the home of the largest giant tortoises to inhabit this archipelago. As we approached the dock by Zodiac, we could see several brown pelicans in the mangrove forest and marine iguanas swimming. Several Darwin’s finches moved from tree to tree, searching for food or perhaps looking for a mate.
The Galapagos National Park Service, together with the Charles Darwin Foundation, are some of the most respected conservation institutions in the world due to the breeding center, where the tortoises are being raised in captivity and repatriated to their island of origin. This program to rehabilitate giant tortoise populations started back in the 1960s, focusing on the Española sub species. This population had been decimated due to the presence of introduced goats and donkeys, who foraged all of the vegetation, leaving the tortoises not only without food but also without shelter. After years of research and hard work, the program has been a great success; today over 2000 young tortoises have been repatriated to their island of origin and are now reproducing in the wild without human intervention.
After our visit to the Charles Darwin Research center, we headed up to the highlands, hoping for a chance to see giant tortoises in the wild. After lunch at a beautiful restaurant, we headed out for a hike through the lush green hills. It was amazing to see these massive creatures in their natural habitat. This was the experience that we came to islands for, and our guests were delighted. A bit of drizzle made the scene very dramatic, and walking with this incredible, friendly creatures made as feel as if we had been transported in time to a few hundred years ago, when the tortoises roamed these islands by themselves…
