Charles Darwin Research Station, Highlands, Santa Cruz Island
Here we are at Santa Cruz Island, home of the largest giant tortoises that inhabit this enchanted archipelago, ready to learn about them and their behavior.
Our morning started with tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station and National Park Breeding Centre, the two institutions that have together managed to save the giant tortoises of the Galápagos from going extinct. The program started back in the 1960’s with the Hood subspecies, whose numbers where going down due to the presence of introduced goats and donkeys to the island. Goats forage the vegetation leaving the tortoises not only without food but also without shelter. After years of research, these programs have been a complete success; today over 1,800 small tortoises have been repatriated to their island of origin and are already reproducing in the wild. This is probably the reason why the Galápagos National Park Service, together with the Charles Darwin Foundation, is within the most respected institutions worldwide.
Afternoon tortoises in the wild, followed by vermillion flycatchers around the lava tunnel and finches, kept our groups excited and busy, and photographers took the pictures they have come to the islands for. A bit of drizzle made the scene very dramatic, and walking with these incredible friendly creatures made us feel transported in time. Maybe as far back as a hundred years ago, when the tortoises roamed the islands by themselves…
