Santa Cruz Island
Today, around eight o’clock in the morning, we were ready to disembark from the National Geographic Islander to Puerto Ayora. This picturesque town is the capital of Santa Cruz Island; here you feel immersed the warm multicultural environment.
People from all over Ecuador have come to colonize this area since the early 1930s. This town is the home of the two main institutions that work hard for the conservation of the islands, the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) and the Galápagos National Park (GNP). Today we visited the “Fausto Llerena” tortoise breeding center. This area was named after one of the pioneer park wardens who worked most of his life with Galápagos giant tortoises. On any given day you can still see Fausto feeding or measuring the tortoises, activities that he has been performing for a very long time.
Of the several facilities at the breeding center, one in particular is very popular due to a “tortoise celebrity” known as ¨Lonesome George.¨ His story, unfortunately, is very sad and well known inside and outside the Galapágos Islands. He is the last giant tortoise survivor from Pinta Island. Consequently; he is the only known living individual of his subspecies. Today George seemed to be in the mood for pictures, as he was out of his usual corral, posing for our avid cameras! We then met another famous giant tortoise named Diego. “Super Diego” as we call him, has fathered hundreds of the rare Española tortoise subspecies. This famous reptile has helped to save his own subspecies from extinction. About forty years ago, only 14 adult individuals survived on Española Island. Now, after many years of successful repatriation, there are close to 1700 tortoises on Española Island.
In the afternoon after a delightful lunch in a local colorful open air restaurant in the highlands of Santa Cruz, we had the thrill of observing the magnificent Galápagos giant tortoises in their natural habitat.
Today, around eight o’clock in the morning, we were ready to disembark from the National Geographic Islander to Puerto Ayora. This picturesque town is the capital of Santa Cruz Island; here you feel immersed the warm multicultural environment.
People from all over Ecuador have come to colonize this area since the early 1930s. This town is the home of the two main institutions that work hard for the conservation of the islands, the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) and the Galápagos National Park (GNP). Today we visited the “Fausto Llerena” tortoise breeding center. This area was named after one of the pioneer park wardens who worked most of his life with Galápagos giant tortoises. On any given day you can still see Fausto feeding or measuring the tortoises, activities that he has been performing for a very long time.
Of the several facilities at the breeding center, one in particular is very popular due to a “tortoise celebrity” known as ¨Lonesome George.¨ His story, unfortunately, is very sad and well known inside and outside the Galapágos Islands. He is the last giant tortoise survivor from Pinta Island. Consequently; he is the only known living individual of his subspecies. Today George seemed to be in the mood for pictures, as he was out of his usual corral, posing for our avid cameras! We then met another famous giant tortoise named Diego. “Super Diego” as we call him, has fathered hundreds of the rare Española tortoise subspecies. This famous reptile has helped to save his own subspecies from extinction. About forty years ago, only 14 adult individuals survived on Española Island. Now, after many years of successful repatriation, there are close to 1700 tortoises on Española Island.
In the afternoon after a delightful lunch in a local colorful open air restaurant in the highlands of Santa Cruz, we had the thrill of observing the magnificent Galápagos giant tortoises in their natural habitat.
