We´ve completed four expedition days navigating in the Galápagos Islands onboard the National Geographic Islander. So far every day has proven these groups of oceanic islands are one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world with a high degree of endemism.
Santa Cruz Island is where we stayed the whole day anchored at Academy Bay, situated just in the base of Puerto Ayora, the most populated town in the Galápagos. Right after breakfast all of us landed at the port to head towards the rearing center of giant tortoises, near the headquarters of two very important institutions that work for the conservation of the islands: the National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station. The visit was very special since our guests got their first chance to see giant tortoises! Moreover, they got to learn about the rearing process step by step. The little baby tortoises became the stars in the visit, they were so little that it was hard to believe they eventually will reach tremendous sizes and weigh over five hundred pounds!
Our morning had a little bit of everything. After the visit done at the Rearing Center, our guests went to explore the town and shortly afterwards we boarded buses to visit a sugar cane mill. At this site a very nice local family welcomed us and showed us their traditional edible products produced out of the sugar cane juice and Arabic coffee.
After a wonderful lunch in the highlands surrounded by a lush forest, we continued exploring Santa Cruz. This time we visited a giant lava tunnel, and also walked around grasslands to find giant tortoises in the wild; apparently the giant tortoises had a lot of food in that area because we saw many – so many we lost count! Most of them were males feeding on the grasses.
