Santa Cruz
The National Geographic Islander anchored before dawn in Academy Bay, off the southeastern coast of Santa Cruz Island. Academy Bay was named after the California Academy of Sciences; they had several important scientific expeditions to the islands, the most important one being in 1905-06. The port of Puerto Ayora lies along the shore of Academy and is by far the largest town in Galápagos. With over 20,000 inhabitants P.A. is home to the headquarters of both the Galápagos National Park Service (which employs some 300 men and women) and the Charles Darwin Research Station (employing about 100 workers).
This morning the Bay was calm as we loaded into the Zodiacs and motored to shore. A slight drizzle was actually welcome as the air was rather hot and humid. We visited the tortoise breeding center at CDRS and enjoyed seeing and photographing both tiny hatchling tortoises and huge adults. We saw Lonesome George, the sole remaining tortoise from the northern island of Pinta. Sadly he is not interested in breeding with the closely related female tortoises that share his rocky enclosure, so his species is doomed for extinction when he dies. He may live another 50 years or more; no one knows his age but we do know that tortoises can live to over 150!
After our visit to the Station, we followed a paved and winding road into town. Colorful souvenir shops and small boutiques lined the road on both sides so those of us who were interested in shopping had much merchandise to choose from. The photographers among us had fun at the fish market where sea lions and pelicans begged for scraps while the fishermen cleaned their catch.
We boarded buses for a half hour drive to the highlands, stopping enroute in the little agricultural town of Bellavista where we watched sugar cane being pressed and tried the fresh sugar cane juice. When we reached “Rancho El Chato” most of us descended on a rocky trail to a lava tunnel which we followed for about a quarter of a mile. These geological formations crisscross volcanic islands and are the result of lava flows that thousands of years ago had crusted over and then emptied leaving a tunnel behind. When we climbed out of the lava tube we found a hearty lunch buffet waiting for us!
In the afternoon we had the option to continue exploring the lush green highlands of Santa Cruz, or return to the ship. We drove higher up the island and visited Los Gemelos pit craters where we searched for Darwin’s finches and orchids among the endemic Scalesia trees. Next we visited a farm that is a favorite area for giant tortoises. There were several dozens of them for us to photograph and observe, and we delighted in seeing these ancient reptiles in their natural habitat.
In the evening back on the National Geographic Islander following our recap, a video preview by Brian and my briefing about our last day’s activities tomorrow, we had dinner and dancing! “EcoArte” musicians and dancers came from town to entertain us with music and dance from the Andes and Galápagos.
