Today we started our day anchored at Academy Bay, located at the southern end of Santa Cruz Island. Early in the morning we disembarked at the main dock of Puerto Ayora, which is the largest town in the archipelago. After a short bus ride we arrived to the Giant Tortoises Breeding Center, where we learned about how the efforts of the Darwin Research Station scientists and the park rangers to breed these emblematic chelonians in captivity. And we also learned about the two most famous giant tortoises on the planet: on the one hand, we had the last individual of the species from Pinta Island, named Lonesome George, who passed away in June of 2012, and on the other hand we have the most successful reproducer from Espanola Island, Diego. After our morning visit we had a little free time to wander around Puerto Ayora and do some shopping to support the local economy of the islands.
On our way to the Santa Cruz’s highlands we stopped by a locally owned sugar mill. There we learned how the Cabrera family processes the sugar cane to get molasses, raw sugar and the very popular sugar cane firewater. They also grow and roast their own Galapagos organic coffee. We got the chance to taste all of these local delicacies. Followed by our next stop to Aquelarre, a beautiful restaurant located on the highland of Santa Cruz.
After lunch we went to the Cerro Mesa, located on the natural migratory route of the giant tortoises in Santa Cruz Island, where we spotted several giant tortoises walking freely around the farms located in the highlands; creating great opportunities to take great pictures of these reptiles.
At the end of the afternoon we headed back to town for a last minute shopping or to move back to the National Geographic Endeavour II. We returned to the ship, happy and loaded with tons of beautiful memories. What a great way to end another day in paradise.
