As the sun rises over the southern shores of Santa Cruz Island, the National Geographic Endeavour gently rides its anchor chain in Academy Bay, as a southern swell touches bottom as it enters the sandy bay.
Our plan is to leave the comfort of our ship for the whole day to explore Santa Cruz Island, as we seek the most famous inhabitants of the Galapagos archipelago.
Santa Cruz Island is home to about two thirds of the human population of the Galapagos. The vast majority of the almost 20,000 inhabitants of Santa Cruz live in Puerto Ayora. Puerto Ayora is also home to the longest running conservation program in the Galapagos National Park's history, the Galapagos Giant Tortoise Rearing Program.
After landing at the main pier in Puerto Ayora, we visited the "Fausto Llerena" Giant Tortoise Breeding Center, where we saw hatchlings from different species in their pens, as they are reared in captivity for several years before being released back to their respective islands.
As is so characteristic for the rainy season, the air temperature in town reached around 86°F with almost 100% humidity at mid-morning, at which point we escaped town for the cooler highlands.
On our way to lunch, we stopped at the Trapiche farm. At this family owned eco farm, we were able to observe the processing of sugarcane into raw sugar, and also into moonshine.
As we reached the Aquelarre restaurant, we experienced a true tropical shower which further cooled us down after our very hot experience of the morning.
We finished our afternoon exploring the highlands of Santa Cruz with a visit to the El Manzanillo ranch, where for the second time in this expedition we got to experience giant tortoises in the wild.
As I finish this report, we have just sent off our visiting Charles Darwin Research Station scientists, as well as a local music group that had joined us onboard the ship for the evening.
In a few hours we will be lifting anchor to start making our way to San Cristobal Island, where new adventures await.
