Santa Cruz Island
The Galápagos Island Archipelago is an awe-inspiring place, and today we had a taste of it by visiting the center of the Archipelago. Santa Cruz Island is one of the most iconic destinations we find in the Galápagos, and a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station was the best way to begin our journey. The first stop of the visit was at the baby tortoises’ corral. At the same time we witnessed how the breeding program started with very few individuals, who fostered it to the tremendously large program it is today. Later in the visit, we had the opportunity of seeing the adult tortoises; especially those of Española Island.
The Española breeding program is consider one of the most successful restoration projects of the Research Station, as most of the population has been reinstated; but the program would not have been as effective without a very important member of its program: Diego from the San Diego zoo. The visit continued to astonish us with the breeding program for land iguanas. We had a great experience learning about the restoration efforts used to bring the land iguana population back to the numbers they are today. At the end of the visit we had a delightful time into town as we experienced the everyday life of the galapagueño community.
The complements of exploration were going to be found in the afternoon by visiting the giant tortoise Reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz. A marvelous sky was the perfect match for beautiful color displays of nature. The splendor of the place was shown to our eyes once we witnessed the presence of dozens of giant tortoises found all over the area. We had the opportunity of seeing big males feeding on plants like a delicacy of nature.
Farther along the trail, we had the opportunity to enter a lava tube in order to experience how lava used to move back in time when the island was still active. At the end of the visit, we had a wonderful view of the ocean from the highest point of the trail, as we enjoyed a delightful cup of coffee. At the end of our exploration we had the a magical moment, as the sun set behind the horizon telling us that tomorrow the Galápagos paradise well bring us more surprises.
