Santa Cruz Island
What a wonderful day we had today.
We anchored at Academy Bay right by the town of Puerto Ayora; here we have a full day visiting the emblem of the national park, the giant tortoises. Santa Cruz Island is the second largest island in the Galápagos and it sustains about 15.000 people. Here is where the National Park and the Research Station have their administration offices. In these facilities is where all the efforts to protect and understand this wonderful place start. Today we are headed to have a close up view of two famous tortoises; Lonesome George the last survivor of Pinta Island, and mighty Diego the prolific proud father of 1600 baby tortoises. Many of his little offspring brought a smile in our faces as we see the progress that human kind makes for restoring these reptiles back to their original numbers before we humans set foot on this archipelago.
Soon after our free time in town shopping and also drinking soft drinks or a cold local beer, we rode a bus to the highlands to have lunch after visiting a lava tunnel. Our lunch at 900 feet was simply delightful, surrounded by finches and lush green vegetation; we shared our morning experiences while we also get ready for our next adventure. Like a safari adventure, we searched for giant tortoises in their natural state. These shiny boulders moving slowly among the grass, and sure enough, there they were, just as the first colonizers saw. To our fascination we felt privileged to see them and to understand how lucky we are to observe and say that these reptiles have a great chance of survival. We continued to a higher elevation, around 2000 feet, to visit the pit craters. These two geological features were the admiration of all. No pictures can convey the immensity such a structure made by Mother Nature has as a reminder of her mighty presence.
Back to the town we drove and our Zodiacs took us to the ship, we were all eager to show our pictures of such a wonderful day. Our expedition is reaching its peek, we are now heading to the western part of the archipelago where many more adventures to share are awaiting us. Even though our guests were thrilled to observe the giant tortoises in their natural habitat, there would have more surprises to come in this wonderful place called Galapagos.
What a wonderful day we had today.
We anchored at Academy Bay right by the town of Puerto Ayora; here we have a full day visiting the emblem of the national park, the giant tortoises. Santa Cruz Island is the second largest island in the Galápagos and it sustains about 15.000 people. Here is where the National Park and the Research Station have their administration offices. In these facilities is where all the efforts to protect and understand this wonderful place start. Today we are headed to have a close up view of two famous tortoises; Lonesome George the last survivor of Pinta Island, and mighty Diego the prolific proud father of 1600 baby tortoises. Many of his little offspring brought a smile in our faces as we see the progress that human kind makes for restoring these reptiles back to their original numbers before we humans set foot on this archipelago.
Soon after our free time in town shopping and also drinking soft drinks or a cold local beer, we rode a bus to the highlands to have lunch after visiting a lava tunnel. Our lunch at 900 feet was simply delightful, surrounded by finches and lush green vegetation; we shared our morning experiences while we also get ready for our next adventure. Like a safari adventure, we searched for giant tortoises in their natural state. These shiny boulders moving slowly among the grass, and sure enough, there they were, just as the first colonizers saw. To our fascination we felt privileged to see them and to understand how lucky we are to observe and say that these reptiles have a great chance of survival. We continued to a higher elevation, around 2000 feet, to visit the pit craters. These two geological features were the admiration of all. No pictures can convey the immensity such a structure made by Mother Nature has as a reminder of her mighty presence.
Back to the town we drove and our Zodiacs took us to the ship, we were all eager to show our pictures of such a wonderful day. Our expedition is reaching its peek, we are now heading to the western part of the archipelago where many more adventures to share are awaiting us. Even though our guests were thrilled to observe the giant tortoises in their natural habitat, there would have more surprises to come in this wonderful place called Galapagos.
