Santa Cruz Island
Today we visited the second largest island of the Galápagos, Santa Cruz Island which is located in the centre of the archipelago. Santa Cruz Island holds the largest human population of the region and it is at the same time the place from where all the conservation work is deployed to the rest of the archipelago. Being home to the Galápagos National Park Service (GNPS) and the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) the island receives many thousands of visitors a year. Our expedition started at Puerto Ayora paying a visit to the CDRS. In this place we learned all the details of the conservation efforts carried out by the GNPS and the CDRS in order to restore the endangered populations of endemic species such as plants and animals of vast scientific value for mankind. In this place we saw baby giant tortoises that will be repatriated within the next few months to their natural habitats or home islands. Among other highlights of the place we had the chance to observe Lonesome George. On certain islands Giant Tortoises still suffer predation by feral mammals such as cats, dogs and pigs that were introduced hundreds of yeas ago with the human colonization of the archipelago. In the CDRS Giant tortoises’ eggs are incubated and once the baby tortoises reach five years old they are repatriated to their islands of origin.
In the afternoon we had lunch in a restaurant in the highlands of Santa Cruz surrounded by a green lush forest typical to the windward side of the island. Later on we headed to different locations around the highlands visiting the endemic daisy tree forest (Scalesia pedunculata) around Los Gemelos. Another destination in this part of the island is the giant tortoises reserve located on the western side of Santa Cruz Island. It is estimated that there is a population of over 3000 giant tortoises living in the wild. These harmless herbivorous giants are forest dwellers and spend their lives in lush locations grazing and frequenting the ponds. It was an amazing day watching these long lived reptiles moving so slowly oblivious of time through the forest at an unhurried pace.
Today we visited the second largest island of the Galápagos, Santa Cruz Island which is located in the centre of the archipelago. Santa Cruz Island holds the largest human population of the region and it is at the same time the place from where all the conservation work is deployed to the rest of the archipelago. Being home to the Galápagos National Park Service (GNPS) and the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) the island receives many thousands of visitors a year. Our expedition started at Puerto Ayora paying a visit to the CDRS. In this place we learned all the details of the conservation efforts carried out by the GNPS and the CDRS in order to restore the endangered populations of endemic species such as plants and animals of vast scientific value for mankind. In this place we saw baby giant tortoises that will be repatriated within the next few months to their natural habitats or home islands. Among other highlights of the place we had the chance to observe Lonesome George. On certain islands Giant Tortoises still suffer predation by feral mammals such as cats, dogs and pigs that were introduced hundreds of yeas ago with the human colonization of the archipelago. In the CDRS Giant tortoises’ eggs are incubated and once the baby tortoises reach five years old they are repatriated to their islands of origin.
In the afternoon we had lunch in a restaurant in the highlands of Santa Cruz surrounded by a green lush forest typical to the windward side of the island. Later on we headed to different locations around the highlands visiting the endemic daisy tree forest (Scalesia pedunculata) around Los Gemelos. Another destination in this part of the island is the giant tortoises reserve located on the western side of Santa Cruz Island. It is estimated that there is a population of over 3000 giant tortoises living in the wild. These harmless herbivorous giants are forest dwellers and spend their lives in lush locations grazing and frequenting the ponds. It was an amazing day watching these long lived reptiles moving so slowly oblivious of time through the forest at an unhurried pace.
