Santa Cruz Island
On this island is the largest town of the archipelago, Puerto Ayora, where most of the economic activities take place. Our first impression when we landed this morning at the National Park peer was the sighting of a very large marine iguana. As we have been a couple of days around the archipelago we were able to compare the different sizes of these reptiles, according to their various subspecies. Later on, during our morning visit to the National Park headquarters and the Charles Darwin Research Station we learned about the different conservation programs within the islands. We felt very fortunate to be able to see the most famous land tortoise on this side of the Pacific, Lonesome George, and we are very happy about the news that soon he will become a father. When we observe the very young tortoises that were born and raised at this Center we cannot help but thinking that most of them will possibly live for 150 or 250 years. Such an old age makes us realize how special these animals are.
In the afternoon we went to the humid zone of Santa Cruz Island, the highlands. There, we visited a lava tunnel and learned how this geological feature was formed. But the most important highlight of the day was to be able to observe the most famous reptiles of the Galápagos in the wild, the giant land tortoises. Our day ended with a visit to the Scalesia forest. The vegetation around here is very dense giving us a clear idea about how different these islands are one from another. As the day ended we could not avoid dreaming about where the National Geographic Islander will take us next.
On this island is the largest town of the archipelago, Puerto Ayora, where most of the economic activities take place. Our first impression when we landed this morning at the National Park peer was the sighting of a very large marine iguana. As we have been a couple of days around the archipelago we were able to compare the different sizes of these reptiles, according to their various subspecies. Later on, during our morning visit to the National Park headquarters and the Charles Darwin Research Station we learned about the different conservation programs within the islands. We felt very fortunate to be able to see the most famous land tortoise on this side of the Pacific, Lonesome George, and we are very happy about the news that soon he will become a father. When we observe the very young tortoises that were born and raised at this Center we cannot help but thinking that most of them will possibly live for 150 or 250 years. Such an old age makes us realize how special these animals are.
In the afternoon we went to the humid zone of Santa Cruz Island, the highlands. There, we visited a lava tunnel and learned how this geological feature was formed. But the most important highlight of the day was to be able to observe the most famous reptiles of the Galápagos in the wild, the giant land tortoises. Our day ended with a visit to the Scalesia forest. The vegetation around here is very dense giving us a clear idea about how different these islands are one from another. As the day ended we could not avoid dreaming about where the National Geographic Islander will take us next.
