Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz, the second largest island of the Galápagos, welcomed us with a soft garua (mist), and a cool breeze, promising great sightings and entertainment for every taste.
We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station, home of several tortoise subspecies. We met Lonesome George, and Diego, famous tortoise males of this archipelago. But what touched our hearts the most was to see the many baby tortoises that are being raised for five years, to then be released into the wild. This is a wonderful and succesful program. But of the many babies we saw, our favorite of course, were the ones that one day will be sent back to San Salvador Island (or Santiago). These are “our” tortoises, and by “our” I mean Polaris. Since 1997 Lindblad Expeditions has adopted that island, and every conservation program going on there is supported by Polaris guests through the Conservation fund created by Lindblad.
In the afternoon we found several tortoises in the wild, the tortoises of Santa Cruz Island, one of the largest subspecies of the Galápagos. At 1200 feet high we also saw vermillion flycatchers, various species of Darwin finches and new kinds of plants, endemic to these humid highlands. It was a complete and wonderful day!
Santa Cruz, the second largest island of the Galápagos, welcomed us with a soft garua (mist), and a cool breeze, promising great sightings and entertainment for every taste.
We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station, home of several tortoise subspecies. We met Lonesome George, and Diego, famous tortoise males of this archipelago. But what touched our hearts the most was to see the many baby tortoises that are being raised for five years, to then be released into the wild. This is a wonderful and succesful program. But of the many babies we saw, our favorite of course, were the ones that one day will be sent back to San Salvador Island (or Santiago). These are “our” tortoises, and by “our” I mean Polaris. Since 1997 Lindblad Expeditions has adopted that island, and every conservation program going on there is supported by Polaris guests through the Conservation fund created by Lindblad.
In the afternoon we found several tortoises in the wild, the tortoises of Santa Cruz Island, one of the largest subspecies of the Galápagos. At 1200 feet high we also saw vermillion flycatchers, various species of Darwin finches and new kinds of plants, endemic to these humid highlands. It was a complete and wonderful day!
