Today we visited Puerto Ayora town located at the south of Santa Cruz Island, which is second largest of the Galapagos with a surface of almost 1000 Km2. The island is the center of tourism and the economy of the islands, plus the home base of the Charles Darwin Research Station, as well as the National Park Service, these two entities have been working towards the conservations of the archipelago since 1957. During our visit to the Giant Tortoises Rearing Center, we learned that not only scientists and politicians work to recover the populations of animals, but young kids and the rest of the inhabitants of the islands. This morning we were able to see baby tortoises and large individuals as well. Here we also pay a visit to Lonesome George’s “mausoleum”.
Soon after we went to see an amazing lava tube located on the highlands of this large island, this amazing geological formation has almost 1 km long, and easily a small train fits inside. We were able to cross it completely and had lots of fun with this adventure.
Around noon, we had a BBQ lunch at Rancho Manzanillo, and in the same area, we developed a hike to see many giant tortoises wandering free in their natural environment, we believe we saw about 20 of them. It was amazing to see these giants moving through the forest and resting by the shores of the lake located in this beautiful piece of the island of Santa Cruz.
