Santa Cruz and North Seymour Islands
Today’s visit was purely dedicated to conservation! The entire morning was spent at Santa Cruz Island where the National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Foundation have their main headquarters. It was early in the morning when we were heading to the highlands of Santa Cruz, and it is precisely here where one of the several sub-species of giant tortoises that inhabit this enchanted archipelago has made their home.
After taking many pictures of the giant tortoises from all possible angles, we headed to a nearby lava tunnel to have the unique experience of crossing it. The primitiveness of the area could transport us easily to ancient times, and although Galápagos never had any primitive human natives, we could easily imagine how cave people chose areas like this in mainland and use them as shelters.
For the afternoon we visited the Island of North Seymour. We were overwhelmed by the amount of wildlife found in such a small area, but grateful that we did find them. One of the main highlights was to see a couple of frigate birds flying with their fully-inflated gular sacs.
As we continued with our walk, land iguanas were resting literally in the middle of the path. One of them was a huge male that showed us its beautiful bright yellow breeding color. It did not move at all for a while, as if it was giving us the chance to take as many photographs as we wanted.
We really took our time to fully experience this magnificent area, and despite that not tiring of seeing all the animals, we had to return to our good ship Islander as the night was falling upon us.
Today’s visit was purely dedicated to conservation! The entire morning was spent at Santa Cruz Island where the National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Foundation have their main headquarters. It was early in the morning when we were heading to the highlands of Santa Cruz, and it is precisely here where one of the several sub-species of giant tortoises that inhabit this enchanted archipelago has made their home.
After taking many pictures of the giant tortoises from all possible angles, we headed to a nearby lava tunnel to have the unique experience of crossing it. The primitiveness of the area could transport us easily to ancient times, and although Galápagos never had any primitive human natives, we could easily imagine how cave people chose areas like this in mainland and use them as shelters.
For the afternoon we visited the Island of North Seymour. We were overwhelmed by the amount of wildlife found in such a small area, but grateful that we did find them. One of the main highlights was to see a couple of frigate birds flying with their fully-inflated gular sacs.
As we continued with our walk, land iguanas were resting literally in the middle of the path. One of them was a huge male that showed us its beautiful bright yellow breeding color. It did not move at all for a while, as if it was giving us the chance to take as many photographs as we wanted.
We really took our time to fully experience this magnificent area, and despite that not tiring of seeing all the animals, we had to return to our good ship Islander as the night was falling upon us.
