The port of Puerto Ayora lies along the shore of Academy Bay and is by far the largest town in Galapagos. With over 25,000 inhabitants Ayora is home to the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station, two of the most well-known conservation institutions in the world.
We visited the tortoise breeding center at CDRS and enjoyed seeing the tiny hatchlings that have been born here and are getting stronger in order to be repatriated to their islands of origin. There where adult tortoises too and they gave us the opportunity to learn about their fascinating differences, their life cycles and their behavior.
Once we ended our visit to the Research Center we walked along the main street of Puerto Ayora. It is a very busy little town that has art galleries, restaurants and shops. One of the attractions here is the fishermen’s dock. It is full of activity and a great opportunity to see how the animal species of the island have learned to get a free meal.
We later boarded buses for a drive to the highlands, stopping in the agricultural town of Bellavista where we watched sugar cane being pressed and tried the fresh sugar cane juice. After lunch we reached a private ranch, a place where we went out to look for giant tortoises. There were dozens of them for us to get close to, photograph and observe. We delighted in seeing these ancient reptiles in their natural habitat. The highlands of Santa Cruz are green all year round and this is why Santa Cruz is home to the largest tortoise of the archipelago.
We went inside a lava tunnel, a geological formation that provides a support structure. Oceanic Islands and portions of the planet itself look very much like this, but are typically not accessible. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore such a rare site.
After a busy day we came back onboard and got ready to settle in as we learned about the surprises the coming day would bring….
