Galapagos Day Four, Santa Cruz

A map of our route on the cruise.

Day four started out with a leisurely 7AM breakfast, before heading out to the island of Santa Cruz, and specifically the town of Puerto Ayora, which is the largest settlement in the Galapagos. This town has a population of approximately 16,000 and houses the Charles Darwin Research Station, as well as the headquarters for the Galapagos National Park Service. This island has the highest elevation and has several vegetation zones. We started the day by landing on the docks in town and taking a short (uphill!) hike to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Here's the picturesque town dock... Welcome sign for the Charles Darwin Research Station.

Once there Gilda gave us a short talk on their research and mission. They focus on teaching the townspeople conservation, and work towards preserving the unique environment of the Galapagos.Included in the tour was this display of tortoise shells from the various tortoise species in the region. The Research Station has a breeding program for the giant tortoises, and keeps the hatchlings for four years, until they are old enough to survive on their own. Here is a four year old hatchling eating his lunch. He is so little compared to his adult relatives!Here is a poster board with the story of Lonesome George. George was found in 1972 amid a region devastated by goats on one of the islands. He was brought to the Research Station and considered to be the last of his species until DNA testing found some closely related females on another island. Sadly, tortoises were hunted, and carried from island to island for meat and trade in earlier times, so these females had been removed from their home island and found somewhere else. They were brought in to live with Lonesome George, and after 18 years, eggs were laid this spring. I will be closely watching the website to see if the eggs hatch!

Here's Lonesome George, on the right, eyeing one of his girlfriends to the left.

We weren't able to enter Lonesome George's enclosure, but there were other tortoises who were in an open area where we could walk. We couldn't resist this picture pose!

After the visit to the Research Station we were given time to walk downtown and roam around amid the shops and public areas. This was an open area fish market next to the docks. Note that this smart sea lion has found his perfect hangout, just like a stray dog begging for food!

After our walk, we met back at the docks for a bus to take us up to the highlands of the island. This is one the few islands with enough elevation to get rainfall, so it is not totally desert. At the top of the bus ride we were given the option of hiking through this lava tunnel, which is a quarter mile hike underground. Here is our naturalist Paul, at the entrance to the lava tunnel. A lava tunnel is formed when hot flowing lava hardens on the outside, but continues flowing on the inside, until it has emptied itself out. It is cave like, but not formed in the same way at all!

And here is the exit.

At the top of the lava tunnel was a restaurant, where we had a bountiful buffet of food awaiting us, with an open air view of the area. After lunch, this was one day we weren't allowed a siesta! We piled into the buses for a short ride to an area where tortoises had recently been seen. Boy, we weren't disappointed! There was a small pond, and in the area surrounding the pond were probably thirty or more tortoises. We walked around, amazed, watching these giant beasts go about their daily routines. We also found a wide array of the Darwin finches, some who were not at all camera shy! I had a blast taking pictures of all the surroundings, and just hanging out with these wonderful beings.

Here's one of the funkier Darwin finches...check out that beak!

Every island has its own version of a lave lizard, different species on each island. Here's one of the Santa Cruz variety lava lizard. Galapagos is definitely a place where the reptiles have flourished!

Another Darwin finch.

This guy really seemed to enjoy the spotlight....



Dr. Jane Barker, Mark's friend/mentor from his days at The Jackson Lab, and happily one of mine now as well. Jane was checking out the tortoises that were all around. I think this is a wonderful picture of Jane! Jane is another MPS researcher who gave many years and countless hours towards researching for a cure. Now she is enjoying her retirement years!
A random assortment of tortoises near the pond. This looks like an hibiscus, but I'm not sure if it is a native, or an invasive species on Santa Cruz. Invasive species were brought in for hundreds of years by sailors who hunted turtles for their meat. Conservation work is being done to remove invasive species, such as the goats, where possible, and to encourage education of all visitors.

Our last group outing of the day was to visit several sinkholes, which were volcano craters many thousands of years ago. Here's a picture of one of them. We hiked around the rims, and did more birdwatching on the hike.