Our day began with a dry landing on the public dock on Puerto Ayora, from there we got on to local buses to the “Fausto Llerena Breeding Center” this place has Galapagos giant tortoises in captivity for breeding purposes and as we looked into the corrals we got to see these gentle giant reptiles and their different shell shapes. In Galapagos there are three distinctive shells shapes: saddle back, dome shape and intermediate. These variations depend of the type of island these tortoises come from. Walking through this center allowed us to observe these different tortoises and learnt about the efforts done to save them from total extinction.
After walking through the breeding center everybody had the opportunity to walk in to the town of Puerto Ayora and to experience the life in this place. One of the most colorful places is the fishermen’s dock. This morning there were fresh fish and lobsters, it was very entertaining to see pelicans and sea lions waiting for the fish scraps provided by the vendors.
Towards the end of the morning our guests went to the highlands to “The Trapiche” farm where they observed how the locals make raw sugar, coffee, and alcohol. Some of our guests went biking to the farm from a small village in the vicinity and had a great time enjoying the cool breeze and the magnificent views along the way.
This afternoon as we finished lunch, our guests went to another farm that is located right next to the National Park area to look for Galapagos giant tortoises. On the highlands of Santa Cruz Island one can find the dome shape tortoises and many were encountered all around this farm. Even during the bus ride to this farm there were tortoises all along the way. By this time of the year and during a normal rainy year, tortoises migrate to the lowlands to mate, however this is a dry year and these reptiles are staying longer in the moist uplands where food is plentiful.
As we left the farm we got on to the buses and drove to the town to return aboard and finished our evening with local musicians and dancers from Galapagos after a delightful dinner.
