Santa Cruz and North Seymour
The wake up call comes a bit early this morning; some of us are no doubt still feeling a little tired, but we roll right out of bed because we know there are new adventures awaiting us. The Islander is gently rocking and that actually makes us slightly more reluctant to ease out of the warm sheets. We have a continental style breakfast in the lounge and everyone is up! No one wants to miss today’s hike. This is our third day on board and it already feels like we are one big family.
We drive into the highlands of Santa Cruz and begin to walk in the cool damp morning. We are not rushed, and everybody moves at their own pace. Soon, as we hike down a wide trail into the tortoise reserve called El Chato, we find our first giant tortoise. When we reach the lagoon we find several huge male tortoises soaking in the mud. Darwin finches are searching in the abundant and lush vegetation for seeds. And we are serenaded by the sweet voice of the yellow warblers as they hop from branch to branch above us, chasing insects. Early morning is a wonderful time to be in the wild and natural part of this inhabited island.
Following the hike we had a delicious open-air breakfast with a fabulous view of the sea. Then we climbed into one of the many lava tunnels on Santa Cruz and the naturalists explained how it was formed. We had just over an hour to explore the bustling town of Puerto Ayora and most of us found several items to purchase.
In the afternoon we disembarked on the rugged lava rocks that make up the island of North Seymour. Here we followed a loop trail past countless nesting and courting blue-footed boobies and frigate birds on twig nests in the shrubs. We were especially pleased to locate a couple land iguanas, as these slow moving reptiles are not always easy to find. Their populations have been decimated by introduced predators like dogs and pigs.
Everyone returned to the ship brimming with enthusiasm and eager for the upcoming days. How can it get any better than today?
The wake up call comes a bit early this morning; some of us are no doubt still feeling a little tired, but we roll right out of bed because we know there are new adventures awaiting us. The Islander is gently rocking and that actually makes us slightly more reluctant to ease out of the warm sheets. We have a continental style breakfast in the lounge and everyone is up! No one wants to miss today’s hike. This is our third day on board and it already feels like we are one big family.
We drive into the highlands of Santa Cruz and begin to walk in the cool damp morning. We are not rushed, and everybody moves at their own pace. Soon, as we hike down a wide trail into the tortoise reserve called El Chato, we find our first giant tortoise. When we reach the lagoon we find several huge male tortoises soaking in the mud. Darwin finches are searching in the abundant and lush vegetation for seeds. And we are serenaded by the sweet voice of the yellow warblers as they hop from branch to branch above us, chasing insects. Early morning is a wonderful time to be in the wild and natural part of this inhabited island.
Following the hike we had a delicious open-air breakfast with a fabulous view of the sea. Then we climbed into one of the many lava tunnels on Santa Cruz and the naturalists explained how it was formed. We had just over an hour to explore the bustling town of Puerto Ayora and most of us found several items to purchase.
In the afternoon we disembarked on the rugged lava rocks that make up the island of North Seymour. Here we followed a loop trail past countless nesting and courting blue-footed boobies and frigate birds on twig nests in the shrubs. We were especially pleased to locate a couple land iguanas, as these slow moving reptiles are not always easy to find. Their populations have been decimated by introduced predators like dogs and pigs.
Everyone returned to the ship brimming with enthusiasm and eager for the upcoming days. How can it get any better than today?
