Academy Bay in the southern part of Santa Cruz Island was our anchorage point for the day. After breakfast disembarkation took place at the official dock of the national park service. All guests were equipped to stay the whole day visiting Santa Cruz, and our first stop was at the rearing center of giant tortoises of the national park service. It was great to see little baby tortoises as well as the giant adult ones, and for the first time this week we saw the symbol of our islands.
One of the highlights besides the conservation programs of the national park was to be in a town, to be able to spend some time mingling with the local people. Most visitors that come to Galápagos don’t realize that the archipelago is inhabited.
Shortly after our gratifying visit at the rearing center of giant tortoises and some shopping, we all boarded buses to continue with our activities of the day. The next stop was at a place called Trapiche, which is a sugar cane mill. At this site a family of resident people let us try some products prepared with sugar cane juice, including the fire water!
In the afternoon after our luncheon at the highlands surrounded by big trees and lush vegetation, we organized groups to go on a search for the Santa Cruz giant tortoises. The conditions were perfect for our walk and we came across several big tortoises which were actively feeding.
The day was one of a kind, as for the first time we saw a new Galápagos species of wildlife and also visited the town, which showed the unexplored side of the enchanted Islands.
