Santa Cruz Island
What a great day we had! Early in the morning we woke up surrounded by the picturesque town of Puerto Ayora. Meanwhile the National Geographic Islander repositioned to our new destination, Santa Cruz Island, the second largest island in the Galápagos. Here is where all efforts for conservation take place by two well known entities: the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galápagos National Park. Home of world famous giant tortoises, Santa Cruz provides us with the opportunity to visit them in the wild and also in captivity, where these specimens will hopefully guarantee the comeback of these species.
At the research station we were astounded by the massive size of the legendary tortoise Lonesome George, the last survivor from Pinta Island. All the hard work for preservation takes place here, as we witnessed during our visit of the rearing program; we saw the many tiny baby tortoises which will be repatriated back to their respective islands once they've matured.
After some free time in town, we took our buses into the “highlands” where we had a succulent lunch; surrounded by lush green vegetation and many finches, it was hard to believe we were on the same island.
Different choices we made, but we all had the opportunity to see giant tortoises roaming in the wild, just like the first humans who saw these enigmatic reptiles; we were simply astonished by these gentle giants.
What a great day we had! Early in the morning we woke up surrounded by the picturesque town of Puerto Ayora. Meanwhile the National Geographic Islander repositioned to our new destination, Santa Cruz Island, the second largest island in the Galápagos. Here is where all efforts for conservation take place by two well known entities: the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galápagos National Park. Home of world famous giant tortoises, Santa Cruz provides us with the opportunity to visit them in the wild and also in captivity, where these specimens will hopefully guarantee the comeback of these species.
At the research station we were astounded by the massive size of the legendary tortoise Lonesome George, the last survivor from Pinta Island. All the hard work for preservation takes place here, as we witnessed during our visit of the rearing program; we saw the many tiny baby tortoises which will be repatriated back to their respective islands once they've matured.
After some free time in town, we took our buses into the “highlands” where we had a succulent lunch; surrounded by lush green vegetation and many finches, it was hard to believe we were on the same island.
Different choices we made, but we all had the opportunity to see giant tortoises roaming in the wild, just like the first humans who saw these enigmatic reptiles; we were simply astonished by these gentle giants.
