Santa Cruz
Today was a VERY special day: 11/11/11; our experiences in the enchanted islands of Galápagos easily lived up to our expectations on this memorable date. We awoke to find we were anchored in Academy Bay, off the large central island of Santa Cruz, alongside several dozen other yachts and ships of various shapes and sizes. Buildings crowded the shoreline and as we motored among mangroves and lava rocks to the National Park dock, we learned that this town, Puerto Ayora, is the largest one in the archipelago. Over 20,000 inhabitants live in a small area about 15 blocks by 15 blocks and just outside the town are the headquarters of both the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galápagos National Park Service.
Our outing commenced with a visit to the tortoise breeding center where we saw both hatchling and adult giant tortoises. Because these huge slow moving animals are good to eat, and because of their ability to survive for two to three years without food or water, these ancient reptiles were loaded by the hundreds into the holds of ships that came to the islands in the 1800’s to take whales and fur seals. This historic hunting has pushed a few species of tortoises to extinction and several others have very small remaining populations in the wild. The joint Park and Station captive breeding program began in the 1960’s and has been brilliantly successful. Bred from the last 15 individual adult Española tortoises, more than 2,000 young tortoises have now been released back on the arid, southeastern island of their origin.
We strolled down the coastal road that led to town, shopping in colorful boutiques and snapping countless photos along the “T-shirt mile.” A pretty, peaceful and clean little town. As the guests reached the town center I gathered them up, we had a cool drink, and we cheered when it was 11:11 a.m. on 11/11/11 – hurrah! We boarded buses that took us a half hour’s drive into the lush green highlands.
Those who had both sufficient energy and curiosity, crossed through a lava tunnel stretching for a quarter of a mile underground. After climbing steeply up rough lava steps, they were glad to find a hearty buffet lunch waiting. Dessert of cake and fresh fruit was followed by delicious Galápagos coffee or lemon grass tea; then we took turns crawling into a huge, empty tortoise shell for a funny photo op.
We divided into “do-it-all” or “tortoises-only” groups and some of us visited the giant daisy forests at Los Gemelos pit craters where endemic Scalesia trees harbor finches of many species, orchids, mosses and ferns. All of us visited the pastures of longtime resident Steve Divine where we saw 30 plus giant tortoises grazing on the grasses, soaking in a pool or lumbering slowly along as their species has for millennia.
In the evening, after our traditional recap of the day, briefing about tomorrow, and dinner, we were entertained by musicians and dancers of a local group called EcoArte. Great way to end a marvelous day!
