Santa Cruz Island
Today, once we’re back on board, our heads are still spinning. A marching drum band, a fishing dock where brown pelicans seem to be the clients, a cacophony of architecture and the impression that grown-up men here live to play volleyball are just a few of the memories we are left wondering about. Today we had a rare look inside the life of a Galápagueño; a Galápagos resident.
We started in the morning with a visit to the first tortoise rearing center of Galápagos, founded in 1965. The rearing center is situated next to the Charles Darwin Research Center, which consists of some low buildings and offices spread over a square mile. In the magical cactus forest we walked through, finches and mockingbirds were abundant. We identified at least four different species of finches.
We learned about the importance for these centers, of which we now have three. On most islands, Galápagos tortoises have difficulty reproducing in the wild. Besides their decimated population—due to depredation and habitat destruction—the birthrate of these reptiles is naturally low. Nowadays the three centers together have a large output of young tortoises, born in the incubators and, after five well-nursed and nourished years, brought back to the island of their origin. We saw and learned about both ends of the spectrum: Lonesome George as the sad reminder of how quick a species can go extinct, and the tortoises of Española, which are bred back from only 14 to 2000 individuals, as a victory in conservation.
Afterwards we walked back through the colorful streets of Puerto Ayora, experiencing a unique lifestyle, where endemic wildlife is part of the day and small buildings of all colors, shapes and purposes make a mishmash you can only imagine in a Latin-American boomtown. Coaches took us up into the hills, where a small farm was visited. Here we learned about coffee farming and we saw and tasted the product of probably the most primitive still in the southern hemisphere. Later we had lunch in a small resort, where free-range chicken was roasted on an open fire.
Most people wanted to see more after lunch, and chose to visit two big pit craters shrouded in the thick mist. The craters lie in a cloud forest of endemic scalesia and reminded us of lush, tropical islands like those in the South Pacific. We then headed down to see the tortoises again, this time in their natural habitat. We saw giant males browsing low-growing herbs, weeds and grasses, hissing low when they retract their long necks. It is a moment to remember, and took our thoughts back millions of years, for these giants’ ancestors proceed the age of the dinosaurs.
Once back in town, we saw men fervently playing volleyball, with a large crowd watching the spectacle, making bets on the results. This is a tradition for at least twice a week, and it is clear that a big part of the social life in Galápagos plays right here, on the small squares and streets. Small families milled around, children played with whatever available, and small carts offered homemade snacks. In the bay you could see the twinkle of the first lights on the numerous ships at anchor, waiting to continue the adventure.
