Santa Cruz Island
With the uninhabited islands behind us, we had a strange feeling when we woke up this morning in the middle of a very crowded bay, Academy Bay, at Santa Cruz Island, home to both the largest human population and the second largest wild tortoise population in the islands. The bay was full of activity with tour boats arriving and leaving, Zodiacs coming in and out, and a couple of cargo ships loading supplies for the growing population.
Puerto Ayora, the town, is home to some 18,000 inhabitants and is the economic hub of the archipelago. Our day started with a landing at the dock of the Galápagos National Park Service, and then a trip to the Charles Darwin Research Station where scientists gather information for the conservation of the island's unique biota.
We visited one of the most significant and successful programs in the ecological restoration of the islands: the giant tortoise breeding program. We saw baby tortoises from different islands, the famous “Lonesome George,” the last of his kind; and the Española adult individuals, the first to be kept in captivity to reproduce and increase the population of the Island.
After the Darwin Station we walked back through town, exploring the village, the fish market and of course all the shops and galleries. We found many souvenirs and beautiful crafts made with local materials and recycled products.
At about 11:00 am we boarded a series of buses for a 30-minute drive to the highlands. We entered the farming area, bordering El Chato Tortoise Reserve, where we had the chance to walk through a lava tunnel about a quarter mile long. Afterward we had lunch at a nice restaurant owned by locals and conveniently located right outside the lava tunnels with a magnificent view of part of the island.
Right after lunch, we traveled into the middle of the tortoise migratory route where we encountered several of these wild magnificent creatures. Free to move in and out of the national park area and across private lands, they follow the same routes they have probably travelled for millennia. Afterwards we continued further into the highlands and stopped by a pair of huge pit craters, called Los Gemelos, surrounded by a forest of epiphyte-laden endemic Scalesia trees, one of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in the Galápagos.
Ferns, orchids, bromeliads and several species of Darwin's finches such as the woodpecker finch, large billed ground finch and the warbler finch are commonly found here, among others species such as the Galápagos doves and some cattle egrets.
Exhausted but happy to see the iconic animals of Galápagos, the day was not over after dinner – a group of local musicians came aboard to delight us with some Ecuadorian and Latin music.
What a way to end our day!
