We navigated a few hours to the north during the night and anchored at dawn in Academy Bay, off Santa Cruz Island. The town of Puerto Ayora is the largest is the archipelago and with a population of around 20,000, it’s a bustling port. Breakfast was served on the National Geographic Islander between 0700 and 0800 this morning and afterwards we boarded the Zodiacs for a short ride into the dock at the national park headquarters. To our surprise the dock was flooded – so we disembarked instead at the main town dock and took taxis up to the visitor center. One must always be adaptable here in Galapagos and ready for a change in plans! We spent the entire day on land today, and visited first the tortoise captive breeding center and then the highlands of the island.
Our naturalist guides took us through the breeding center where they showed us the tiny hatchling tortoises and explained that several species of the most endangered of the giant tortoises are being raised in captivity to increase their survival rate and allow them to be repatriated to the islands where their populations in the wild are low. We heard the story of Super Diego, a male tortoise that was collected in the 1930’s in Galapagos and taken to the San Diego Zoo. In the mid 1960’s scientists at the Charles Darwin Research Station realized that the total wild population of Española tortoises had been reduced to only 14 individuals (12 females and 2 males), so the zoo returned Super Diego to Galapagos in 1976 and, as his name implies, he has been an important part of the very successful captive breeding project ever since. Now there are more than 2,000 tortoises back in the wild on Española Island!
Following our visit to the tortoise project we had an opportunity to shop at the brand new facilities of the Charles Darwin Research Station. Purchasing t-shirts and books here is one way of supporting research in the islands, and many of us found some small item to buy. Then we walked on down through town and stopped as we desired to browse in the shops and boutiques that lined the coastal road. At the fish market we had fun taking pictures of juvenile pelicans and sea lions that were begging for scraps, and then we gathered at The Rock Café for juice and beer. Aura took a dozen of our guests by bus to the town of Bella Vista where they hopped on mountain bikes and pedaled three hilly miles into a coffee and sugar cane farm. The rest of us came by bus to the farm where we all enjoyed a look at the traditional methods of processing the home grown coffee and sugar cane. We also enjoyed sampling the coffee, sugar cane juice, and cane liquor!
Lunch was grilled chicken served to us in a restaurant located in the lush, cool, and shady highlands. From here we went by bus to search for tortoises in the wild. We found some really enormous males, took many photos, and explored a double-decker lava tunnel before returning to the port. After dinner we were entertained by a local group of musicians and dancers, EcoArte, and we were all tucked in bed before 10:00 p.m. after yet another full and fabulous day in las islas encantadas!
