Santa Cruz Island
The light passing through the window in my cabin told me that a new day was beginning. Just waking up in one of the most famous nature destinations in the world is a great reason to be in high spirits. Our expedition brought us today to one of the largest islands of the archipelago, Santa Cruz. The capital of this island, Puerto Ayora is a vibrant and active town. A beautiful waterfront surrounded by local restaurants and souvenir shops is the heart of this community.
The Galápagos National Park Service offices are located here as well as the world renowned Charles Darwin Research Station. The latter organization is home to many Galápagos giant tortoises for there is a breeding center running successfully in their installations. We observed baby tortoises in their pens, the famous “last of its kind” Lonesome George and many more gigantic individuals. We witnessed firsthand and with respect and admiration the titanic efforts that are being done to save these anti-diluvian looking reptiles of the Galápagos Islands. After this visit we went to the highlands of Santa Cruz with a powerful mission that I will describe in the next paragraph.
This week we have, just like in the last couple of weeks, an enthusiastic group from Exclusive Resorts. They came with an altruistic hands-on helping action. Guests play their part in a re-forestation project in of one of the most endangered ecosystems in Galápagos, the giant daisy (Scalesia pedunculata) forest of the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. During this one-of-a-kind project, guests use a bit of their visiting time planting endemic representative trees of this vegetation zone of Galápagos.
It was raining hard, the wind was blowing, and there were fire ants and mud. All the latter conditions were not stronger than the perseverance and good will of our intrepid guests who were able to plant close to 300 new trees! Several members of the Galápagos National Park were with us as well providing logistic support. We helped them today as volunteers with the reforestation with many young native species trees that will stay there as living proof of our commitment to the conservation of our planet.
After lunch at “El Chato” restaurant many of us went to look for the giant tortoises in the wild. Others preferred to come back to town to stroll around and do some last minute shopping. After dinner a local band with beautiful female dancers came onboard to fill the atmosphere with the joy of their musical and dancing skills. Finally we all went to bed dreaming about what new surprises and memories our expedition around this magical archipelago will bring tomorrow to our lives.
