Santa Cruz and North Seymour Islands
Morning saw us anchored in Academy Bay, off the southern coast of Santa Cruz Island. Being the second largest island in the archipelago, it is one of the tallest and has several vegetation zones that succeed one another with the increasing humidity at higher altitudes. Among its many attractions, Santa Cruz is also home to a healthy population of giant tortoises that migrate seasonally between highlands and lowlands as they have for millennia, regardless of the farms and ranches that have sprung up around them in recent times – the latter however provide easier access for us to view these magnificent creatures, relics from another era, in their natural habitat.
We left the ship bright and early to embark on the first of today’s many adventures. We rode up through the agricultural zone to the farm of a “Galápagueño” whose land borders an area named “El Chato” Tortoise Preserve, which is part of the Galápagos National Park. This is a lightly forested area that borders one of the only freshwater lagoons on the island, and as such is a huge attraction to the giant tortoises of the area - when the hot season strikes, the opportunity to wallow in refreshing mud and freshwater proves irresistible to these reptiles. On hiking through the area, we came across a dozen or so of them, ranging from juveniles and small females to the massive male tortoises. The lagoon is also home to myriad moorhens and pintail ducks, and is hugely popular with frigate birds that fly all the way from the coasts to swoop down low over the lagoon and dip their magnificent black plumage in the freshwater.
After hiking among the tortoises, we came to the opening of one of the immense lava tunnels that riddle the island, and descended into the bowels of the earth where rivers of lava have run before us. While some of us chose to take just a peek at the magnificent geological formation, the more fearless and less claustrophobic travelled through the tube for about quarter of a mile before exiting the other end.
After a quick opportunity to explore Puerto Ayora, we boarded the Islander and set off once more, this time up the north-eastern coast of Santa Cruz to the tiny islet of North Seymour. Despite its size, the sheer concentration of wildlife here is absolutely astonishing. We made a dry landing on a rocky shore in the late afternoon, when the light was at its softest and most beautiful, and strolled or hiked amongst blue-footed boobies and frigate birds in full courtship mode – turquoise feet and brilliant red pouches every where we looked. The low-lying saltbushes were laden with both marine and terrestrial iguanas, and the coastal zone littered with sea lions of all sizes and dispositions. Swallow-tailed gulls were paired up along the landing area, their huge night-vision eyes ringed in red, and other shore birds flitted among the rocks in search of food.
We then sat along the shore and watched huge waves lit by the setting sun, as the full moon rose behind us – a truly magical moment. Life is good!
Morning saw us anchored in Academy Bay, off the southern coast of Santa Cruz Island. Being the second largest island in the archipelago, it is one of the tallest and has several vegetation zones that succeed one another with the increasing humidity at higher altitudes. Among its many attractions, Santa Cruz is also home to a healthy population of giant tortoises that migrate seasonally between highlands and lowlands as they have for millennia, regardless of the farms and ranches that have sprung up around them in recent times – the latter however provide easier access for us to view these magnificent creatures, relics from another era, in their natural habitat.
We left the ship bright and early to embark on the first of today’s many adventures. We rode up through the agricultural zone to the farm of a “Galápagueño” whose land borders an area named “El Chato” Tortoise Preserve, which is part of the Galápagos National Park. This is a lightly forested area that borders one of the only freshwater lagoons on the island, and as such is a huge attraction to the giant tortoises of the area - when the hot season strikes, the opportunity to wallow in refreshing mud and freshwater proves irresistible to these reptiles. On hiking through the area, we came across a dozen or so of them, ranging from juveniles and small females to the massive male tortoises. The lagoon is also home to myriad moorhens and pintail ducks, and is hugely popular with frigate birds that fly all the way from the coasts to swoop down low over the lagoon and dip their magnificent black plumage in the freshwater.
After hiking among the tortoises, we came to the opening of one of the immense lava tunnels that riddle the island, and descended into the bowels of the earth where rivers of lava have run before us. While some of us chose to take just a peek at the magnificent geological formation, the more fearless and less claustrophobic travelled through the tube for about quarter of a mile before exiting the other end.
After a quick opportunity to explore Puerto Ayora, we boarded the Islander and set off once more, this time up the north-eastern coast of Santa Cruz to the tiny islet of North Seymour. Despite its size, the sheer concentration of wildlife here is absolutely astonishing. We made a dry landing on a rocky shore in the late afternoon, when the light was at its softest and most beautiful, and strolled or hiked amongst blue-footed boobies and frigate birds in full courtship mode – turquoise feet and brilliant red pouches every where we looked. The low-lying saltbushes were laden with both marine and terrestrial iguanas, and the coastal zone littered with sea lions of all sizes and dispositions. Swallow-tailed gulls were paired up along the landing area, their huge night-vision eyes ringed in red, and other shore birds flitted among the rocks in search of food.
We then sat along the shore and watched huge waves lit by the setting sun, as the full moon rose behind us – a truly magical moment. Life is good!
