Santa Cruz Island
We saw tortoises today—the famous giant tortoises of Galápagos! We arrived at feeding time and had the privilege of seeing them enjoying a feast of "elephant ears". From the smallest islands to the tortoises of Española, they were all busy roaming and eating their lunch, completely oblivious of our presence.
In the afternoon we found more tortoises in the wild doing their favourite thing: eating! Slowly walking through the grassy fields of the highlands, these immense creatures devoured every piece of greenery on their way. Today we learned about their behaviour, their natural history, and about their good future—because we also saw the many babies that someday soon will be repatriated to their home islands after successful breeding and rearing programs.
Once on board we learned from gracious naturalist Graciela Cevallos how to dance salsa and meringue, and the party went on! Our guests and visitors from town celebrated a good Wednesday in the Galápagos. Among our dinner guests we had a group of young volunteers who soon will spend a couple of months in the field doing a research on sea turtles. So, either tortoises and turtles, it was all about them today!
