This morning by the time our guests awoke, up we were already anchored at Academy Bay, on the south end of Santa Cruz Island. It was a beautiful morning and by 8:30 all of our guests were ashore and on their way to visit the Giant Tortoise Rearing Center, in order to learn about one of the most successful and iconic program on ecological restoration of the islands. This is a program that is jointly run by the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) and the Charles Darwin Research Station. After this visit, our guests had the chance to walk across the community of Puerto Ayora. Some of them did some souvenir shopping, others went for ice creams and others to a cyber café.
At 11:00am everybody boarded buses and headed to the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, to visit a sugar cane mill called El Trapiche. Here our guests had a fun experience with a local family and their lifestyle. We tried some of the sugar cane juice, as well as the moonshine that is produced at the farm. After this visit we got back on the buses and headed to the Aquelarre restaurant, where we had a delicious lunch.
After lunch, our guests continued by bus until we reached a private property, own by local galapagueños, which is located at the boundary of a Giant Tortoise Reserve. Everyone had the chance to observe these magnificent reptiles in their natural habitat and learn about their natural history. It was a bit muddy, so we were relieved to have rubber boots provided to us for the hike.
By 4:30 in the afternoon, we had returned to the town of Puerto Ayora. Some of the guests decided to return directly to the National Geographic Endeavour, while other stayed later to spend time glancing through the many souvenir shops or trying the street side cafés of this town. Everyone was back on board by sunset.
At the end of the day, right after dinner, our guests were joined by our visiting musicians and dancers for some entertainment at the lounge.
