Santa Cruz Island
The Galapagos Islands have always been considered a wildlife paradise. Indeed they are. We have spent a few days exploring this archipelago and we have encountered islands that are teeming with life, with an astonishing variety and numbers of animals! Today we are visiting Santa Cruz Island and it happens to be an amazing place!
In the morning we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station. Here, we had the opportunity to learn the biology of the Galapagos giant tortoises. Furthermore we learnt about the conservation programs carried out by institutions such as the Galapagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Research Station.
The Galapagos giant tortoises are emblematic species in this region. The conservation institutions have invested time and effort to guarantee the successful restoration of degraded habitats and species of organisms that inhabit them such as giant tortoises, land iguanas, and also a variety of plant species.
In the afternoon we explored the highlands of Santa Cruz. This island is large and high above the sea level. These are conditions that let the island have a green lush forest all year round. At the same time this green forest has large patches of green grass. It is here in the grassland where we found the enormous tortoises grazing and slowly walking across the land.
Today was a day of landscapes, giant tortoises, Darwin’s finches and lots of emotions! It was a great day among large tortoises.
