Santa Cruz Island
Today was the day of the giant land tortoise: our morning outing took us to the rearing center of this endemic species. The Galápagos National Park has been running this program since the early 1960’s, with the purpose of restoring the dynasty of the natural emblem of these islands.
Our naturalists gave us information about how this program is run and how successful it has been. More than 5000 land tortoises have been repatriated to their islands of origin in about 50 years of very hard work.
Land tortoise eggs are brought from their islands of origin and incubated at the center; the young babies are taken care for about six to eight years, then after a good group builds up, they are sent home to survive on their own. At the same time, habitats are restored and introduced creatures are controlled as there are very dangerous predators for the tortoises.
We saw how carefully tiny little tortoises are kept safe from rats and other introduced pests. Land mammals such as cats, dogs, goats and feral pigs affect the development and survival of these endemic reptiles. This is the hottest season in the archipelago where the outside temperature reaches more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
We had lunch in the cool highlands with our local hosts Anita and Tim Grey. Our guests enjoyed a nice pool and a superb chicken barbecue.
The afternoon options took us to a local ranch to enjoy the highlands greenery. The weather was a little cooler up there; we saw the pit craters, did some bird watching and came back to town to do some shopping.
Ecuadorians were celebrating Mardi Gras today and our guests somehow participated in it: as our buses were traveling to the highlands and back down to town, they were targets of water spilling by local kids. This is how this people celebrate Carnival at the equator. A lot of shops were open but all the schools and offices were closed, as this is a big holiday in Ecuador.
Tomorrow will be Ash Wednesday and life will return to normal in the tropics.
After dinner, a party with local musicians and dancers was the perfect ending to a very hot Fat Tuesday in the Galápagos.
