Santa Cruz Island
Today we explored Santa Cruz Island again, at a visitors’ site on the northwestern side of the island. Santa Cruz, the second largest island in the archipelago, has a lot to offer. This morning we disembarked at Cerro Dragon, searching for the dragons of the Galápagos, the land iguanas. A breeding program was started in this area with extraordinary success just a few years ago with the intention of saving these terrestrial reptiles from extinction.
Along the trail we spotted lots of them roaming in the wild as they used to do centuries ago. Land iguanas prefer drier habitats because prickly pears, their main food source, are everywhere. We saw a female iguana working very hard trying to remove all the spines from a cactus fruit. Cerro Dragon was also infested by introduced cats and dogs, but after a very successful eradication program and management most of these problems are long gone. It was an extraordinary moment to watch these antediluvian- looking creatures appearing from nowhere, matching so perfectly with the barren landscape.
Cerro Dragon has also a spectacular view; it was possible to see the northwestern face of Santa Cruz Island, and to see how the vegetation zones change in color as we explored with our eyes from the sea level to the highlands. We had a unique moment of silence and beauty in Galápagos.
In the afternoon we sailed to a different location, another amazing visitors’ site known as El Eden. We had two options; the first one was exploring this area by kayak and the second by Zodiac. Sharks, rays, blue-footed boobies, pelicans and shorebirds were out there for our delight.
Our final activity of the day was on board the National Geographic Endeavour. We invited everyone to the outer decks while we circumnavigated Daphne Major Island. This tiny island was chosen by renowned scientists Peter and Rosemary Grant to carry on their famous long-term study on one of the most famous Galápagos land birds, the Darwin finches. The Grants have been studying these birds for almost 40 years. They have been coming during the dry and rainy months for the last decades. As a result of this study this couple has seen evolution on fledge.
