Today we woke up with the great view of the charming town of Puerto Ayora on the horizon. Right after breakfast we began our day, a day dedicated to the giants of this archipelago, the Galápagos giant tortoises.
Santa Cruz Island is the base for the two main institutions that work for the conservation of this enchanted archipelago. The Galapagos National Park Service, which is an Ecuadorian governmental organization, and the world renowned Charles Darwin Research Station, both established in 1959. The institutions work together to collect, incubate, reproduce, repatriate and ultimately save from extinction some of the vanishing Galapagos giant tortoise subspecies.
After disembarking at the town’s main dock and a short bus ride, we arrived at the Tortoise Breeding Center. We saw the famous tortoise, Diego. This tortoise lived in the San Diego Zoo for many decades and was returned to the Galapagos with the mission of saving his fading race and becoming the prolific father of hundreds of new tortoises.
After this informative and interesting visit we had the delight to stroll along the colorful streets of Puerto Ayora, the capital of Santa Cruz Island, to enjoy and observe the activities of the local community. The fishermen’s wharf is one of the most interesting places to see. Today a Galapagos sea lion and some Brown pelicans surrounded the fishermen who were cutting fish, in the hopes of winning a morsel.
At around eleven in the morning we went by bus to the highlands to continue with the planned activities of the day. Before lunch we made a brief but interesting stop before arriving to Narwhal restaurant. We visited a sugar cane press that belongs to the Cabrera family. Many members of this Galápagos family showed us how they make a living by processing and growing sugar cane and coffee on their property, “El Trapiche”. Some energetic guests rode mountain bikes in the highlands from a town called “Bellavista” to the sugar cane press location.
After lunch we had high hopes to see the giant reptiles of the Galapagos in the wilderness, so we went to “El Chato”. We had a great time photographing and observing several gentle giants that were roaming around us.
Late in the evening we all went to bed after this long, but marvelous day. We were a little tired perhaps, but our hearts and minds were replenished with great memories that will stay with us forever.
