Santa Cruz and North Seymour Islands
Today is the big day. Why? Because we are going to see giant tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Before 6:00 a.m. we are already anchored in Academy Bay off Puerto Ayora: the economic capital of the archipelago. Everybody is ready and eager to disembark despite the sudden change in the weather; there is a light drizzle of rain, known as garua. We take the buses for a half an hour drive into the lush green highlands, and arrive to the Chato Tortoise Reserve. Almost magically, as soon we reach the boundaries of this area, the garua stops!
We head off hiking and with in five minute we encounter two small tortoises right on the trail. It is fantastic to see these slow moving and prehistoric looking retiles in their natural habitat. Once we reach the Chato lagoon, we found five huge males tortoises soaking in the mud, some frigate birds drinking fresh water by dipping to the surface of the pond, and white-cheeked pintail duck quietly paddling around and feeding. Everybody had ample opportunity to take wonderful pictures. After the hike some of us walked through a lava tunnel one quarter of a mile long and we all met at an open-air restaurant to enjoy a delicious breakfast buffet.
After breakfast we returned to the charming port town of Puerto Ayora to explore and do some shopping. Back on the ship we had lunch, a siesta, and watched a presentation on Geology by Naturalist Betinia. We made a dry landing at 4:00 p.m. on the rocky shore of North Seymour. This tiny island is impressively full of wildlife! Right there at the beginning of our hike, we founded three beautiful land iguanas and, on the cliffs, we observed swallow tailed gulls, sally light foot crabs and Galápagos sea lions. Further along we saw the blue-footed boobies with their eggs and chicks, and we came very close to a colony of nesting frigate birds.
Today is the big day. Why? Because we are going to see giant tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Before 6:00 a.m. we are already anchored in Academy Bay off Puerto Ayora: the economic capital of the archipelago. Everybody is ready and eager to disembark despite the sudden change in the weather; there is a light drizzle of rain, known as garua. We take the buses for a half an hour drive into the lush green highlands, and arrive to the Chato Tortoise Reserve. Almost magically, as soon we reach the boundaries of this area, the garua stops!
We head off hiking and with in five minute we encounter two small tortoises right on the trail. It is fantastic to see these slow moving and prehistoric looking retiles in their natural habitat. Once we reach the Chato lagoon, we found five huge males tortoises soaking in the mud, some frigate birds drinking fresh water by dipping to the surface of the pond, and white-cheeked pintail duck quietly paddling around and feeding. Everybody had ample opportunity to take wonderful pictures. After the hike some of us walked through a lava tunnel one quarter of a mile long and we all met at an open-air restaurant to enjoy a delicious breakfast buffet.
After breakfast we returned to the charming port town of Puerto Ayora to explore and do some shopping. Back on the ship we had lunch, a siesta, and watched a presentation on Geology by Naturalist Betinia. We made a dry landing at 4:00 p.m. on the rocky shore of North Seymour. This tiny island is impressively full of wildlife! Right there at the beginning of our hike, we founded three beautiful land iguanas and, on the cliffs, we observed swallow tailed gulls, sally light foot crabs and Galápagos sea lions. Further along we saw the blue-footed boobies with their eggs and chicks, and we came very close to a colony of nesting frigate birds.
