Today we woke up at Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island. The view was different, houses and boats everywhere. This is the town of Puerto Ayora, with 20,000 inhabitants and the economic hub of the archipelago. The headquarters of the Charles Darwin Research Station and the National Park are located here—two institutions working together for the conservation and protection of the islands. During this visit we had the opportunity to learn the different aspects of the conservation work carried out by these two institutions, but the highlight of the visit was the tortoise breeding center, where baby tortoises from different islands are born as part of the tortoise restoration program carried out by the Galápagos National Park Service. Eventually all these little creatures will be repatriated back to their home islands and hopefully one day they will be able to reproduce in the wild.
Once we finished our visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station, our guests had time to explore the town, do some shopping, and visit the fish market. Then we all gathered before getting a bus ride to the highlands of Santa Cruz to visit a sugar cane mill and a coffee plantation, or visit a local school sponsored by Lindblad-National Geographic. Some of the guests, the most adventurous, rode mountain bikes to the sugar cane mill and of course had the chance to explore the highlands in a different way. Lunch today was at a beautiful restaurant located in the highlands.
In the afternoon we spent time at the tortoise reserve. The green vegetation, the pastures, and the ponds are the perfect habitat for giant tortoises. These creatures have been here for thousands of years and it seems that time is not an issue for them. Giant tortoises, finches, lava tubes, fresh water ponds, ferns, orchids, and a unique landscape came together to make this day a very special one.
