Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz Island is the second largest Galápagos Island and the most populated; we dropped the anchor at seven in the morning at Academy Bay, Puerto Ayora.
After our breakfast, we headed up to the headquarters of both the National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, to visit the rearing center of giant tortoises. The highlight of the morning was to get to see the small newborn tortoises, which are going to be released back in to the wild within a few years. They are about the size of a credit card; it was hard to believe later in their lives they can reach weights of nearly six hundred pounds!
Later in the morning our guests were offered some free time. Some went shopping at the town of Puerto Ayora, others relaxed at the local cafes observing how the Galápagos people live coexisting with the local fauna.
In the afternoon we had lunch at a local restaurant situated in the highlands of Santa Cruz. The weather and landscape are so different at this site—grasslands and big trees make this place to look in some areas like a cloud forest.
After a great lunch, we went on the search of the endemic species of giant tortoise from Santa Cruz Island: Chelonoidis Porteri; this tortoise happens to be one of the largest in the archipelago. We succeeded in finding several adult males with average weights of five hundred pounds.
The day was full of surprises, and finally we saw the symbol of the Galápagos: The Giant Tortoise.
