Santa Cruz Island
Today we had a dry landing on the north side of Santa Cruz Island, and were soon headed to the highlands of the territory. It was great to see the vegetation zones changing drastically as we traveled. We drove by giant daisy forests, the tallest of all the plant species in this zone. We finally arrived at the land of titans, where the tortoises have lived in the humid zone for millions of years. The giant tortoises of the Galápagos do a migration cycle every year, laying their eggs down in the arid zone, and then journeying to the green humid zone, also known as “tortoise paradise.” We spotted some endemic flora and various species of birds that choose the green side of the islands as their habitat.
On our way to the restaurant, some of us had a chance to go biking or walking along the road, enjoying the picturesque landscape. After a great lunch, we headed down to the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about the projects this institution is doing for the conservation of the species of this archipelago. Some very famous individuals of the Galápagos were sighted here: Lonesome George, the last tortoise of its kind, and Super Diego, savior male tortoise of his own subspecies. It was an outstanding opportunity to learn about the sustainable future of the islands.
After some time in the town of Puerto Ayora, a place where we got a good taste of the social life of the islands, we headed back to the National Geographic Endeavour, keeping the fresh green memories of the highlands with us.
