Santa Cruz Island

It started with breakfast anchored in Academy Bay, which had a few boats. This is the busiest harbor in all of Galápagos and therefore the most colorful in many ways. Some of the sailboats there were clearly from sailors sailing around the world and looking for an alternative way to travel and learn about the world. We are a group of over 91 people onboard and have been able to discover the wonders of Santa Cruz.

We went to visit the Charles Darwin Station where we learned how the tortoise rearing center works and the importance of maintaining a program that has been so successful and shown all of us that the tortoise population is in better shape than when Charles Darwin was here. Many groups were visiting the famous Lonesome George, the sole survivor from Pinta Island. It was very easy to see him today. We also saw the baby tortoises in the rearing center. They are tortoises from different islands where there are introduced black rats that keep eating the babies. The eggs are brought to this center and incubated in captivity, kept here for four years until they reach what we call “rat proof age.”

Walking through the town gave our guests the opportunity to see the local way of life which is very unique, the souvenir shops, the local cafés, etc. After this, we went to the highlands where we experienced one of the nicest restaurants on the countryside. Some people walked while others jogged.

Our day’s excursions continued. We went to visit the sink holes known as los gemelos, and searched for tortoises, Darwin’s finches and the very rare vermilion fly catcher in their natural habitats. We also had the opportunity to see the Scalesia forest which is a member of the dandelion family (sun flower).

Our day in Puerto Ayora ended and after dinner we listened to live music played by a local group that serenaded us and encouraged us to get up on our feet and dance. We went to sleep thinking how lucky we were to have been able to spend another great day in paradise.