Santa Cruz Island
Early in the morning we woke up anchored at Academy Bay, named after the California Academy of Sciences that organized scientific expeditions to the Galápagos Islands. Santa Cruz Island is home to conservation institutions such as the Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galápagos National Park Service, both of whom started conservation work back in the 60s.
These institutions work very closely together, joining efforts to preserve endangered tortoises. They raise in captivity the world famous Galápagos giant tortoises. And eventually they are repatriating them to their home islands.
At the Research Station we were amazed by the story of the legendary Lonesome George, the last survivor of Pinta Island. The hard work for the preservation of species that takes place here gives us hope for the future.
After exploring the town, we boarded local buses to head towards the highlands of Santa Cruz. Here, we had a local flavored lunch in a local country restaurant surrounded by lush green vegetation typical at this at this altitude.
The many trees and singing Darwin finches in this area made it hard to believe that we were on the same island we were in the early morning. Different places were visited in the afternoon. During these activities we had the opportunity to see giant tortoises roaming freely in the wild.
Here, on Santa Cruz these reptiles are massive. We found them in the forest and at least one was drinking water from a pond.
What a day indeed, just another day in paradise!
