What a wonderful day on Santa Cruz! Today we had the chance to observe our emblem: the Galapagos giant tortoises. In the morning we visited the installations of the Charles Darwin Research Station. In the area opened to the public we were able to talk about the big efforts this institution is making, together with the Galapagos National Park Service, to restore the populations of these magnificent reptiles. Conservation issues are very important to the archipelago. In 1959 these two institutions were established, creating an unprecedented team approach toward preserving the integrity of the Galapagos archipelago. One of the main programs is incubating, rearing and repatriating endangered populations of giant tortoises. To give you an example how well this program is working I will refer briefly to the Española Island case. On this island the total population of tortoises was only 14 individuals, 12 females and two males, as close as can be to extinction! They did not have the chance to even meet each other nor to copulate. The tortoises were transported to live in the Charles Darwin Station. Last year one thousand tortoises incubated under captive conditions were repatriated! But the triumph of this particular conservation program is even better: some repatriated individuals are successfully reproducing in the wild.
After a delicious lunch in the highlands of Santa Cruz we had the chance to see some giant tortoises roaming free in the wild. We visit an open area where in the fields we could spot several individuals. One tortoise was grasping grass under a big tree, one was walking looking for shade. Today was in general a very hot and humid day (around 86 º F) typical of this time of the year. The hot, wet season goes from January to June. In today's picture we can see one of the tortoises resting peacefully in a dripping pool. Giant tortoises go to the pools in order to cool off and at the same time to get rid of parasites attached to their skin. A mother white cheeked-pintail duck and two juveniles shared the pond with the tortoise, creating a beautiful scene of the highlands of Santa Cruz: a glimpse of a lost world where reptiles were the dominant feature in the wild landscape.
