Today we headed to Puerto Ayora; this is the largest town in Galapagos, and it offers excellent opportunities to see the Galapagos giant tortoises. We anchored in Academy Bay in the southern realm of the island, and after breakfast we headed towards the main headquarters of the Charles Darwin Station and the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center for Galapagos giant tortoises”.
We walked through the National Park area, where we observed several species of plants that are native to the Galapagos Islands, such as red and white mangroves, as well as some endemic (unique) plants such as the Galapagos bonsai, Galapagos giant prickly pear cactus, and candelabra cactus. As we arrived to the breeding center, we observed the live feed video of researchers feeding the rare mangrove finch chicks with fruit—this is a work in progress at the Charles Darwin Research Station, and so far it is showing successful results.
As we continued our walk, we arrived to the rearing pens, where the Galapagos giant tortoises are kept in captivity. We saw tortoises from different islands; some the animals are bred so that their young can be released in the wild, once they have reached four years old and can take care of themselves. At this point, some of the juveniles that were released more than thirty years ago are the ones reproducing in the wild, on the islands where their populations used to be endangered.
At the end of our morning, we had a chance to walk through the town, and to explore the local shops and restaurants. Afterwards, we drove to the highlands, where we visited a local farm where products like coffee and sugar cane liquor is still produced in the traditional way. Part of our exploration included trying freshly squeezed sugar cane juice and locally grown coffee.
After our visit to the farm, we had lunch at a local restaurant in the highlands, and from there we boarded local buses and went looking for Galapagos giant tortoises in the wild. We were very fortunate, this afternoon we saw several tortoises actively feeding on grasses, while others were taking a refreshing volcanic mud bath to cool down from the hot sunny afternoon. It was incredible to be able to observe these gentle giants in their natural habitat.
It was difficult to pull ourselves away from such a great day with the tortoises, but eventually we returned to the National Geographic Endeavour. More awaits us,as our journey in the mysterious and enchanted Galapagos continues tomorrow!
