Santa Cruz Island
Our day started with our arrival at Santa Cruz, one of the most important islands in the Galápagos. Its strategic location has made it become the main base for most of the local tour operators; besides, the National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station had also established their main headquarters here, making the island an important stop on our itinerary.
The town of Puerto Ayora is for our guests the gateway to access the places where the famous Galapagos Giant tortoises could be observed. There are in existence at least eleven different races of giant tortoises spread all over the archipelago, but the most accessible paths and roads to see them are found here, over the island of Santa Cruz.
Our morning was also oriented towards the education of the local community; Lindblad Expeditions has quickly become since our arrival to the islands in 1997 an icon for conservation in this region. Our efforts to involve the local community in the conservation of the islands have had a positive effect, and many conservationist/educational projects have been developed successfully. Among some of them are the involvement of local schools with programmed visits to our ships and educational tours to near by locations in town. The main idea is that kids of all ages would have an early approach to the idea of conservation, well managed tourism and how both activities can easily guarantee the conservation of the archipelago.
As for our guests, the day couldn’t have been better! It was what we could call a “giant tortoise day,” as the visit to the Charles Darwin Station in the morning provided us with the insightful information on how this and all the species in Galápagos have been protected. On the other hand, the afternoon visit to the green highlands of Santa Cruz showed us first hand the migration routes that tortoises have been using for centuries and it gave a clear idea to our guests how well managed tourism could go hand in hand with conservation!
Our day started with our arrival at Santa Cruz, one of the most important islands in the Galápagos. Its strategic location has made it become the main base for most of the local tour operators; besides, the National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station had also established their main headquarters here, making the island an important stop on our itinerary.
The town of Puerto Ayora is for our guests the gateway to access the places where the famous Galapagos Giant tortoises could be observed. There are in existence at least eleven different races of giant tortoises spread all over the archipelago, but the most accessible paths and roads to see them are found here, over the island of Santa Cruz.
Our morning was also oriented towards the education of the local community; Lindblad Expeditions has quickly become since our arrival to the islands in 1997 an icon for conservation in this region. Our efforts to involve the local community in the conservation of the islands have had a positive effect, and many conservationist/educational projects have been developed successfully. Among some of them are the involvement of local schools with programmed visits to our ships and educational tours to near by locations in town. The main idea is that kids of all ages would have an early approach to the idea of conservation, well managed tourism and how both activities can easily guarantee the conservation of the archipelago.
As for our guests, the day couldn’t have been better! It was what we could call a “giant tortoise day,” as the visit to the Charles Darwin Station in the morning provided us with the insightful information on how this and all the species in Galápagos have been protected. On the other hand, the afternoon visit to the green highlands of Santa Cruz showed us first hand the migration routes that tortoises have been using for centuries and it gave a clear idea to our guests how well managed tourism could go hand in hand with conservation!
