Santa Cruz Island
Today was a very nice and amazing day on Santa Cruz Island, located in the center of Galápagos. We began our day by visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center and had a great time visiting the different corrals where we saw the smallest baby tortoises, as well as the “toddlers.” We also got close-up and personal with the big adult male tortoises; they didn’t mind us around them because they were very busy having a big breakfast feast of nice and juicy vegetation left on their feeding platform.
The morning started nice and warm, and around the station grounds many land birds like the Galápagos mockingbirds and Darwin’s finches were looking for seeds and fruits that are so plentiful at this time of the year (the end of the rainy season). After the visit, we all strolled along the main avenue of Puerto Ayora, shopped, people-watched, and finally met up near the central plaza where we took some local buses into the highlands. We enjoyed a very delicious lunch at Altair restaurant, but volleyball was the game of the moment before lunch for those who didn’t walk or jog for exercise the last mile along the road.
The afternoon was equally fun as we visited wild tortoises in the highlands and enjoyed an interpretive walk through the green and lush Scalesia forest and got an impressive view of two big pit craters known as the Gemelos (the Twins). We returned on board to the Polaris, and after dinner local musicians as well as some dancers came to entertain us with music from the Andes and Galápagos. The dancers wore some very special dresses, hand-painted by the talented head of the group. These dresses, in essence, represent the soul of the islands. We joined them on the dance floor and many had a great time learning the local dances.
Today was a very nice and amazing day on Santa Cruz Island, located in the center of Galápagos. We began our day by visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center and had a great time visiting the different corrals where we saw the smallest baby tortoises, as well as the “toddlers.” We also got close-up and personal with the big adult male tortoises; they didn’t mind us around them because they were very busy having a big breakfast feast of nice and juicy vegetation left on their feeding platform.
The morning started nice and warm, and around the station grounds many land birds like the Galápagos mockingbirds and Darwin’s finches were looking for seeds and fruits that are so plentiful at this time of the year (the end of the rainy season). After the visit, we all strolled along the main avenue of Puerto Ayora, shopped, people-watched, and finally met up near the central plaza where we took some local buses into the highlands. We enjoyed a very delicious lunch at Altair restaurant, but volleyball was the game of the moment before lunch for those who didn’t walk or jog for exercise the last mile along the road.
The afternoon was equally fun as we visited wild tortoises in the highlands and enjoyed an interpretive walk through the green and lush Scalesia forest and got an impressive view of two big pit craters known as the Gemelos (the Twins). We returned on board to the Polaris, and after dinner local musicians as well as some dancers came to entertain us with music from the Andes and Galápagos. The dancers wore some very special dresses, hand-painted by the talented head of the group. These dresses, in essence, represent the soul of the islands. We joined them on the dance floor and many had a great time learning the local dances.
