Today we spent the whole day at my home Island: Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz holds the largest population of the Galapagos Archipelago. In the morning we learned about the conservation programs conducted at the giant tortoise breeding center, and we got to see baby tortoises from several islands. This program is the most successful program run by the Galapagos National Park Service. After this visit our guests had some time in Puerto Ayora town and then went to the highlands to a private farm, called El Trapiche. Here our guests got to see how labor intensive the process of coffee production is, and several local products were sampled here. After an excellent lunch, the visit continued to the giant tortoise natural reserve, a great place to see the gentle giants in their natural habitat.
10/4/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Genovesa Island
With coffee in hand, I stepped out onto the front balcony of the lounge to see what was going on. We had just entered Darwin’s Bay, dropped anchor, and the juvenile red-footed boobies had found the ship and were flying around us on an inspection tour. The rest of the day continued with discoveries of all kinds. An early morning inversion layer (locally known as “garúa”) had fallen and dampened the environment with much desired drops of fresh water, although the chicks of various species didn’t appear terribly pleased in having wet feathers. On our return, the same bedraggled individuals looked smooth, sleek and dry once the sun had come out. The Galapagos National Park has only two sites for visitors, both spectacular, both well worth a slow walk among the palo santo trees to see the great frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galapagos doves, Darwin’s finches, short-eared owls, and storm petrels. Snorkeling, kayaking, and paddleboarding along the base of the cliffs of Darwin’s Bay followed. There’s nothing quite like this island anywhere in the world.