Santa Cruz Island
Academy Bay, in the south eastern side of Santa Cruz, was our anchorage point for the day. This location is the headquarters of both the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station.
After breakfast all guests landed at the main dock of the National Park for our visit to the rearing center of giant tortoises. It was a very grateful visit, where we could see the efforts of the National Park to restore the original population of giant tortoises in the archipelago. Moreover all guests observed step by step how this program works; from the new born baby tortoises to the youngsters that were about to be repatriated in to the wild. Shortly after our visit everyone had some time to stay in the town, most of us went for a walk and mingled with the local people, while some others visited a fish market and saw how some sea lions and pelicans were trying to steal fish from the fisherman.
In the afternoon, after a local lunch in an exotic open air restaurant located in the highlands of Santa Cruz, we went to visit a lava tunnel. We were able to go all the way to the end and it felt like exploring a different world; this natural formation feels like it was carved by the best artisans in the world. Shortly afterwards we all went on the search of the endemic species of giant tortoise from Santa Cruz. We were so successful finding so many that we lost count.
Our day was one of the most special ones of the week, because apart from seeing the Galapagos wildlife, we could see the other side of life here: the people of the islands, and how they live here in such a unique ecosystem of our planet.
