Santa Cruz Island
The day on the most populated island started with a beautiful sunrise, and hopes for good weather. The Charles Darwin Research Station was our first of many activities in the schedule. We had the opportunity to see the baby giant tortoises breeding station run by the National Park Service. There were babies of one, two, three and four years preparing to be released onto the islands where their parents are from. Also we could find giant tortoises in their full size having a great time with the food the National Park’s Rangers prepare.
Once we finished with our excursion we had some time in town for some shopping and to visit the fisherman’s market to see some sea lions and pelicans eating the leftovers. Some guests later took the option of biking in the highlands and some used the buses to travel to El Trapiche, where there was a demonstration of some local products, such as molasses and brown sugar obtained with techniques that don’t require electricity, and also the original process to obtain coffee and sugar cane alcohol.
A big lunch was really necessary after all the activities during the morning in El Aquelarre, and later we visited an amazing lava tunnel. We ended the day with some more wild giant tortoises around the highlands that surprised us by mating.
