Santa Cruz Island
The third day of our voyage has brought us to Santa Cruz Island, in the heart of the Galápagos Archipelago. This is one of four inhabited islands, and it is here that we find the headquarters of the Charles Darwin Research Station, which has been operating in the Galápagos since 1964. The Research Station was the main objective of our visit to the town of Puerto Ayora this morning. Here we learned about the extremely successful giant tortoise captive breeding program. We observed these unique and ancient reptiles in several corrals and at various life stages, from the baby tortoises to the huge adult individuals. We followed a boardwalk through a beautiful Opuntia forest, and spent time identifying the various species of land birds: small and medium ground finches, vegetarian finches, cactus finches, and Galápagos doves, amongst others. After this visit, there was an opportunity to stroll along the main seaside avenue of Puerto Ayora, and explore the merchandise of the many souvenir and t-shirt shops!
Near the town’s central park, we boarded buses that took us on a half hour drive into the highlands of the island. We climbed several hundred feet up, and the air felt cooler and drier. After a bountiful lunch at the farm of Miguel Angel Arias, we set off to explore this lushly vegetated zone. There were many more endemic and native species of both flora and fauna to discover. This was a unique opportunity to observe several species of Darwin finches: notably the warbler finch, and the small and large tree finches. And who could fail to be impressed by the wonderful vermillion flycatcher with its vibrant red plumage! The sightings of endemic species (and subspecies) of land birds went on and on to the delight of our birder guests.
The Santa Cruz highlands are also the home to some 3000 wild giant tortoises that are of a race endemic to this island alone. This afternoon was unusual in that none of us, including the natural history staff (some one whom have been working in Galápagos for up to 20 and 30 years), had ever seen so many of these giants scattered around us. They were on either side of the road, and sometimes on the road itself, at least 60 or 70 of them! Today we identified all nine species of the finches that inhabit Santa Cruz and saw dozens and dozens of tortoises in their natural habitat. Simply amazing! We cannot wait until tomorrow’s new adventures.
The third day of our voyage has brought us to Santa Cruz Island, in the heart of the Galápagos Archipelago. This is one of four inhabited islands, and it is here that we find the headquarters of the Charles Darwin Research Station, which has been operating in the Galápagos since 1964. The Research Station was the main objective of our visit to the town of Puerto Ayora this morning. Here we learned about the extremely successful giant tortoise captive breeding program. We observed these unique and ancient reptiles in several corrals and at various life stages, from the baby tortoises to the huge adult individuals. We followed a boardwalk through a beautiful Opuntia forest, and spent time identifying the various species of land birds: small and medium ground finches, vegetarian finches, cactus finches, and Galápagos doves, amongst others. After this visit, there was an opportunity to stroll along the main seaside avenue of Puerto Ayora, and explore the merchandise of the many souvenir and t-shirt shops!
Near the town’s central park, we boarded buses that took us on a half hour drive into the highlands of the island. We climbed several hundred feet up, and the air felt cooler and drier. After a bountiful lunch at the farm of Miguel Angel Arias, we set off to explore this lushly vegetated zone. There were many more endemic and native species of both flora and fauna to discover. This was a unique opportunity to observe several species of Darwin finches: notably the warbler finch, and the small and large tree finches. And who could fail to be impressed by the wonderful vermillion flycatcher with its vibrant red plumage! The sightings of endemic species (and subspecies) of land birds went on and on to the delight of our birder guests.
The Santa Cruz highlands are also the home to some 3000 wild giant tortoises that are of a race endemic to this island alone. This afternoon was unusual in that none of us, including the natural history staff (some one whom have been working in Galápagos for up to 20 and 30 years), had ever seen so many of these giants scattered around us. They were on either side of the road, and sometimes on the road itself, at least 60 or 70 of them! Today we identified all nine species of the finches that inhabit Santa Cruz and saw dozens and dozens of tortoises in their natural habitat. Simply amazing! We cannot wait until tomorrow’s new adventures.
