This morning we were anchored at Academy Bay located at the southern part of Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz is the second largest island and home to the largest human population (over 20,000 inhabitants) and is the economic hub of the archipelago. Today our guests had the unique opportunity to learn about one of the most successful restoration programs, the Giant tortoise Rearing Centre, run by the Galapagos National Park Service together with the famous Charles Darwin Research Station. It was amazing to see these gentle giants getting their food and to get a close up of “Diego”, a very famous Galapagos Giant tortoise from Espanola Island. After this visit there was time to explore Puerto Ayora town, visit the fishermen’s market, and support the local economy through souvenir shopping.
We met at the Rock Café where we enjoyed a good, cold drink before our buses headed to the highlands of Santa Cruz to enjoy a tour of a sugar cane mill called “El Trapiche”. This was a different experience and we got to know more about the locals and their lifestyle and to taste what is produced at the farm: bananas, sugar cane, sugar cane juice, sugar cane syrup, brown sugar, coffee and moonshine! After this we got back to the buses and headed towards Narwhal restaurant where we had a delicious lunch with a beautiful view.
The afternoon was just beginning and we continued the adventure, taking the buses and driving towards a private property owned by a local family located at the boundary of the Giant tortoise Reserve. Here our guests had the chance to observe the emblematic animals of the Galapagos and observe these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat. There were great conditions for amazing pictures and it was awesome to walk around them, observe how they moved, how they stretched their necks out and how they posed for the cameras. No matter how many days have passed, the feeling of being part of nature and the lack of fear in the animals is just an overwhelming feeling!
By sunset everybody was back on board and although it was a long day, it was still not over, as we had the presentation of a local group of musicians and dancers showing, not only their great abilities at playing instruments, but also showing part of our culture to our guests. This was certainly another great day in paradise.
