Santa Cruz Island, 11/2/2017, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
Today we arrived to the second largest island in the archipelago, Santa Cruz.
Here our guests witnessed a human settlement in the Galapagos for the first time on the expedition. We visited places like the Charles Darwin Research Station, El Trapiche coffee farm and a giant tortoises reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz.
Enrique was born on San Cristobal Island, which is the political capital of the Galapagos. His parents moved from mainland Ecuador in the 1980’s, as did many other Ecuadorians, in search of better work opportunities.
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We split into groups for different excursions this morning. Four groups went up the staircase to the top for the iconic view over the isthmus of Bartholomew Island and Pinnacle Rock. We walked past exposed volcanic formations of all sorts: spatter cones, tuff cones, and lava tubes. Two other groups chose to explore along the coast by Zodiac in hopes of Galapagos penguin sightings. All of us were successful in what we hoped for and even the walkers saw penguins near the dock where we disembarked! Both snorkeling off the beach and deep-water outings along the backside of the island were tremendously productive because we saw it all: penguins and sharks being the top species, and diving blue-footed boobies too! The afternoon had National Geographic Endeavour II anchored not too far south, off the coast of Santiago Island near Sombrero Chino. A dramatically barren, small volcanic cone where another snorkeling outing was offered and late-afternoon Zodiac rides to search yet one more time for penguins. We can never get enough of them!
This week’s expedition has been a special one. Besides exploring the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, our guests were immersed in a photo expedition journey led by National Geographic Photo Expert Lucas Bustamante, Certified Photo Instructor Iván Vásquez, and Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor Pato Maldonado. Today we explored the dry forest of Cerro Dragón in search of opportunities for our guests to practice all the tips and tricks we’ve given them throughout the week, and we succeeded! There were many animals to photograph, from marine iguanas to flamingos and our main subject, the land iguanas (or dragons!). As we walked through the dry forest, we reached the summit where we enjoyed a nice breeze and views of the landscape along with National Geographic Endeavour II anchored just outside the bay. This was a very special opportunity to combine different elements of exploring and interpreting. We had great opportunities to stop to talk about natural history while finding the best angles and perspectives to capture the essence and beauty of the Galapagos.
We spent a full day on Santa Cruz Island, the economic center of the Galapagos Archipelago. We stopped by Puerto Ayora, home of more than half of the 28 thousand (2018) inhabitants in Galapagos. We had our first contact with the developing culture of Galapagos. We visited the Galapagos Giant Tortoise Breeding Center and also saw the wild giants, unique to this island, in the Highlands. We also had the chance to witness the agricultural practices of the locals, how they process their chief products, sugar cane and coffee. To finish our visit, we saw a celebration of a local school, including their parade. We concluded our day by appreciating the handicrafts of local artisans and listening to talented musicians.
