This morning by the time our guests got up we were anchor at Academy Bay at the south end of Santa Cruz Island. It was a beautiful morning and by 8:00 a.m. all of our guests already landed and were on their way to visit and learn about one of the most successful and iconic programs on ecological restoration of the islands, the Giant Tortoise Rearing Center. This is a program that is jointly run by the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) and the Charles Darwin Research Station. After this visit our guests had the chance to walk across the community of Puerto Ayora where some of them did some souvenir shopping, others went for ice creams and others to a cyber café.
By 11:00 a.m. some of the guests boarded the first bus and headed to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island to enjoy an up-mountain bike ride. The rest of the guests rode buses all the way up and by noon everyone enjoyed a visit to a sugar cane mill called El Trapiche. Here our guests had a fun experience with a local family and their lifestyle. We tried some of the sugar cane juice as well as the moonshine that is produced at the farm. After this visit we got back on the buses and headed the Narwhal restaurant where we had a delicious lunch.
After lunch our guests continued by bus until we reached a private property, owned by local Galapagueños, which is located at the boundary of a Giant Tortoise Reserve. Here everyone had the chance to observe these magnificent reptiles in their natural habitat and learn about their natural history.
By 4:30 p.m. everyone got back to town. Some of the guests decided to return directly to the National Geographic Islander while others stayed later to spend time glancing through the many souvenir shops or trying the street side cafés of Puerto Ayora. By sunset everyone was back on board.
At the end of the day, right after dinner, our guests joined our visiting musicians and dancers for some entertainment in the lounge.
