Santa Cruz is the second largest island of the archipelago. Yesterday we visited Academy Bay in the south, and then we explored the highlands; today we visited the northwestern side of the island, a place known as “Dragon Hill.”
This area is a very good example of the restoration programs in the Galápagos. The name Dragon Hill comes from the fact that this area was one of the last places to find Galápagos land iguanas years ago. Even if the population was there, still we had many problems due to introduced species threatening the few survivals. Years later, thanks to a breeding program managed by the national park, we have a stable population of iguanas. One of our groups spotted 20 of them!
The other highlights of the morning were the flamingos we found in a brackish lagoon close to the shore. It looked so unreal, these pink birds combined with the dry landscape of cactus and dormant trees.
We continued with a snorkeling around the islets of Guy Fawkes and then we enjoyed a delicious Ecuadorian lunch.
The afternoon was quite an experience, too. First our younger explores learned about plankton with the help of our stereo microscope; and then we offered some Zodiac driving lessons, Zodiac drives, and kayaking. We had options for everybody!
But the end of the day was the icing of the cake. It was close to sunset when we arrived at Daphne Islet, which we circumnavigated while learning about Darwin’s finches and the studies around these emblematic birds. There were so many activities today – a full day of learning and of enjoying nature.
