Santa Cruz Island
To begin our fascinating day we made sure to eat plenty of appetizing breakfast, because we knew we would require a lot of energy. At eight o'clock in the morning we began with our first outing. Disembarking from the public dock, we had the chance to see the giant tortoises which were named “Galápagos" by the Spanish due to the appearance of their saddle-like shells. We later arrived at the Darwin Station where we could watch the small tortoises recently born here. These juveniles are a part of the ambitious projects that the Galápagos National Park has undertaken, consisting of the restoration of the populations that were predated by pirates and whalers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
At eleven o'clock we boarded buses bound for the highlands - here we could take part in a volleyball match before enjoying a delectable lunch, to recover our energy. After lunch we headed off to visit the tortoise reserve, the sky was a bit cloudy with very little mist or garúa. We were very lucky to spot one the most difficult birds to find, the Vermillion flight-catcher. We watched one tortoise very near us, it was a bit shy at the beginning but then it walked to a small lagoon formed by rain water where it took a bath.
After having enjoyed an invigorating lemon-grass tea, we returned to Puerto Ayora where our guests had free time for shopping. Once aboard and after dinner we had a visit from the local musicians who captivated us with their songs, inspired by this beautiful paradise.
To begin our fascinating day we made sure to eat plenty of appetizing breakfast, because we knew we would require a lot of energy. At eight o'clock in the morning we began with our first outing. Disembarking from the public dock, we had the chance to see the giant tortoises which were named “Galápagos" by the Spanish due to the appearance of their saddle-like shells. We later arrived at the Darwin Station where we could watch the small tortoises recently born here. These juveniles are a part of the ambitious projects that the Galápagos National Park has undertaken, consisting of the restoration of the populations that were predated by pirates and whalers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
At eleven o'clock we boarded buses bound for the highlands - here we could take part in a volleyball match before enjoying a delectable lunch, to recover our energy. After lunch we headed off to visit the tortoise reserve, the sky was a bit cloudy with very little mist or garúa. We were very lucky to spot one the most difficult birds to find, the Vermillion flight-catcher. We watched one tortoise very near us, it was a bit shy at the beginning but then it walked to a small lagoon formed by rain water where it took a bath.
After having enjoyed an invigorating lemon-grass tea, we returned to Puerto Ayora where our guests had free time for shopping. Once aboard and after dinner we had a visit from the local musicians who captivated us with their songs, inspired by this beautiful paradise.
