Santa Cruz Island
This time we had a dry landing at the national park dock, a small place surrounded by mangroves and small coastal birds. We soon headed to the Galápagos National Park Breeding Center to learn about the many projects they are doing to increase the population of the giant tortoises of the Galápagos. Many interesting characters were seen at the breeding center. Among those we had Super Diego male tortoises that came back from the San Diego Zoo to save the species from Espanola Island. Many juvenile tortoises were seen, as they are kept in captivity during the first years of life to make sure they survive the introduced predators. Restoring the dynasty of the species is not easy for the National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Station, but it seemed to us that the efforts are up and going for a sustainable future for these giants.
During the afternoon some of our guests went to visit a local school and explore the different areas of this magical place where most of our leaders are being educated. We also visited a local sugar cane press and saw the many products you can get out of processing the sugar cane juice up in the highlands of Santa Cruz, among the misty greenery of the south western side of the island. After lunch we headed to explore the natural habitat of the giant tortoises within a very green area covered with tall trees. We certainly found many of the giants grazing the grass and cooling off in the rainwater ponds. This was tortoise paradise and we were delighted by many of the ones we encountered.
After a great day, we headed back to the National Geographic Endeavour to continue our journey.
