Santa Cruz Island
Santa Cruz is the most inhabited island, and is the best opportunity on this voyage to see how the people of the Galapagos Islands live in the beautiful town of Puerto Ayora. Also in the morning we have a visit to a place with historical value as the breeding center of giant tortoises, the Charles Darwin Research Center. We saw in the center the babies of the tortoises from different islands as well as adults in corrals. Unfortunately Lonesome George is not living anymore, but the male saddleback tortoise Diego is replacing him very well.
After the visit, the guest went in to the town for some shopping time, and then all them met in the Silberstein Hotel, which was the departure point to the highlands. After a nice bus ride of 30 minutes we arrived at the farm “El Trapiche,” in which we learned the process of harvesting coffee beans and also the fermentation and distillation of sugar cane juice in a liquor called “aguardiente” by the local people.
In the afternoon we were in a different location of the highlands called nicely in Spanish “El Manzanillo.” Then we walked around observing other kind of vegetation that was very lush and green. The trees were covered by lichens, moss, and liverworts, the terrain was moderately muddy and close to a fresh water pond decorated with reddish and greenish water ferns. There were a lot of giant tortoises all over the place, and in the forest we also found a woodpecker finch. We ended by also visiting a small lava tunnel.
Then, after all of these experiences, we came back to the town and then to the ship, but many guest decided to stay a bit longer to walk on the streets of Puerto Ayora. Another beautiful day was coming to the end.
