Our journey brought us to an inhabited island, Santa Cruz. The capital, Puerto Ayora, is the largest town on the four islands where people live and where most income is connected to the tourism industry.
In the morning, we visited the Charles Darwin Breeding Center. We learned about several conservation programs, mainly one for tortoise restoration. This program focuses on the repatriation of baby tortoises to recover populations that were decimated in the past. We also visited Lonesome George, a symbol of hope.
We boarded buses in groups to visit a hydroponic farm or a sugarcane farm. At the hydroponic farm, we learned about sustainable farming. At the sugarcane farm, we learned how people made a living from agriculture in the 1960s. Finally, we had a wonderful lunch at a local farm before looking for giant tortoises at the same site. Despite humid weather, we had an amazing day!
