Santa Cruz Island
We woke up today in Itabaca Channel to a spectacular sunny morning. Our Zodiacs took us to the dock where buses were waiting to take us to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS). This institution is home to the animal species that are the namesake of the archipelago – Galápagos giant tortoises. These huge tortoises are among the largest reptiles on earth. However, this may not have been everyone's first impression after visiting a large number of baby tortoises. The smaller ones were not much bigger than a doughnut, and some of the larger ones were about the size of a football. These juvenile tortoises belong to the successful reproduction and repatriation program that had been developed in the mid-sixties.
Later on we finally met the famous “Lonesome George” a saddle-back tortoise from the island of Pinta. He is considered to be the only one left of his race; the last survivor of his kind. After visiting the CDRS we walked through the streets of Puerto Ayora. This colorful town offered us the opportunity to experience some of the local flavor, as well as the ability to browse handicrafts and T-shirts.
We boarded our buses once again, this time in the direction of the highlands on this beautiful island. In this region the vegetation is lush, green and humid; contrasting with everything we have experienced during the previous days on our expedition. We had a delightful lunch in a local restaurant. After a refreshing dip in the pool our expedition reached one of the highest points of the week; Galápagos giant tortoises in the wild, without boundaries and rambling free in the grasslands of the highlands of Santa Cruz. Later in the afternoon we came back to the Itabaca Channel, where we witnessed a wonderful sunset while we navigated back to the National Geographic Polaris.
We woke up today in Itabaca Channel to a spectacular sunny morning. Our Zodiacs took us to the dock where buses were waiting to take us to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS). This institution is home to the animal species that are the namesake of the archipelago – Galápagos giant tortoises. These huge tortoises are among the largest reptiles on earth. However, this may not have been everyone's first impression after visiting a large number of baby tortoises. The smaller ones were not much bigger than a doughnut, and some of the larger ones were about the size of a football. These juvenile tortoises belong to the successful reproduction and repatriation program that had been developed in the mid-sixties.
Later on we finally met the famous “Lonesome George” a saddle-back tortoise from the island of Pinta. He is considered to be the only one left of his race; the last survivor of his kind. After visiting the CDRS we walked through the streets of Puerto Ayora. This colorful town offered us the opportunity to experience some of the local flavor, as well as the ability to browse handicrafts and T-shirts.
We boarded our buses once again, this time in the direction of the highlands on this beautiful island. In this region the vegetation is lush, green and humid; contrasting with everything we have experienced during the previous days on our expedition. We had a delightful lunch in a local restaurant. After a refreshing dip in the pool our expedition reached one of the highest points of the week; Galápagos giant tortoises in the wild, without boundaries and rambling free in the grasslands of the highlands of Santa Cruz. Later in the afternoon we came back to the Itabaca Channel, where we witnessed a wonderful sunset while we navigated back to the National Geographic Polaris.
