Galapagos -Day 4
This morning we’re back on Santa Cruz Island and we’ll spend the entire day on the island. We rode our pangas into the main dock where we watched the barges coming in to get their loads of bananas and other cargo. It’s a busy little harbor, full of all the boats, large and small, which travel these islands.
We first boarded buses which took us to Los Gamalos, a private property where we were able to observe the giant tortoises in their natural habitat. Then we went to the Scalesia Forest, where we saw huge craters which had been air pockets from eruptions, until the roof caved in to leave a big hole in the ground. There were two of these big craters. Next, we hiked about 200 meters into a lava tube which was miles long.
After these morning activities, we took our pangas over to the Finch Bay Hotel for our buffet lunch/barbeque. They had a large pool that we could use if we wanted, but the local ducks commandeered it. It was fun watching them use it as a huge bird bath.
After lunch, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center, where we saw the giant tortoises from eggs, to small hatchlings, to five years old, when they release them into the wild, and some huge ones that they keep for research and breeding purposes. We even saw Lonesome George, the last know survivor of his unique species who is living out his life at the Center.
We were then let loose to make our way back to the dock at our leisure so we could support the local economy by checking out all the shops in the town. There were pangas waiting at the dock to take us back to the ship up until 6:00 pm.
Back on board, we had another orientation about how tomorrow would go for those of us leaving, and those who will be staying for the rest of the week. We had a special farewell dinner of Ecuadorian specialties, and farewell cocktail, and a band of local musicians to entertain us.
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