Today we woke up anchored in Academy Bay in Santa Cruz Island.
This is the second largest island in the Galapagos and home to more than half the archipelago’s inhabitants. This is the location of the headquarters of the National Park and the Darwin Research Station. After breakfast we went ashore to visit the breeding center of the giant tortoises. As the islands were exploited by navigators to the brink of extinction of the giant tortoise, the two institutions previously mentioned made a decision in the 60’s to help the species. The adult tortoises are kept for a couple of years before they are released and they provide us with the eggs we incubate. In the morning we saw adult giant tortoises and baby tortoises the size of donuts. Also, there is a breeding center for iguanas that almost suffered the same fate of extinction by feral animals.
After a walk full of reptile sightings, the guests had time to explore the town and go shopping. The colors of the city were bright and vivid and the townspeople exemplified how humans interact with the famous wildlife found on these islands.
Later we took buses to visit a small farm that produces coffee, molasses, brown sugar and rum. Then we enjoyed lunch at a beautiful restaurant in the highlands with a great view.
To finish the day and make the most of our time on Santa Cruz, we went to a private ranch where they let us see the giant tortoises in the wild which cross their land as they migrate from dry to wet land.
It was another great day in the Galapagos with an interesting mixture of wildlife and humans.
