Santa Cruz Island, 3/30/2023, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
We had an amazing day on Santa Cruz. We started by visiting the Charles Darwin Foundation, where we learned about conservation projects and the community’s efforts to preserve this unique place. Then, we headed to the highlands to visit a local farm. We learned about traditional processes to produce coffee and sugarcane.
Our second visit in the highlands was to the Manzanillo Ranch. Here we had lunch surrounded by one of the largest populations of giant tortoises on Santa Cruz.
Ixora was born in the Galapagos Islands, back when the streets were made of sand and gravel. Void of TV and tablets, her childhood friends and pristine natural surroundings made for an inspiring upbringing. She was always drawn to the ocean and her l...
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This morning National Geographic Endeavour II anchored at Santa Cruz Island. We started the day visiting the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. During this visit we had the opportunity to see babies as well as different morph types of giant tortoises. Afterwards, we headed to the highlands of Santa Cruz to visit a local hydroponic farm. Here we saw how the lettuce we consume on board grows with this environmentally friendly technique. In the afternoon we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the highlands, and we had the opportunity to see the giant tortoises along their migration route. It was beautiful and a great learning experience!
Today we visited Floreana Island. An early hike brought us to Punta Cormorant where we witnessed the start of the breeding season of the blue-footed boobies by observing the famous blue-footed booby courting dance! Then a few yards away, we observed flamingos in the brackish water lagoon. What a great start to a great day! After breakfast we went to Champion Islet and off we went for Zodiac rides and later for deep water snorkeling and glass bottom boat rides. It was like swimming in an aquarium! The afternoon was filled with activities: two rounds of kayaking, visiting the famous Post Office Barrel, swimming, and snorkeling off the beach. To cap it all off, sunset was gorgeous. It was an amazing day in paradise.
Española Island is considered the oldest of the Galapagos Islands. This island is home to diverse and abundant species, even if from afar it looks like a deserted island. Mockingbirds, endemic to this islands, lava lizards, and large colonies of sea lions are a few of the species that we observed today. Our morning took us to one of the most wonderful and pristine white sandy beaches in the world, Gardner Bay. Here we could try out our snorkeling gear and practice some snorkeling among curious baby sea lions that swam by. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to take our guests on a boat ride to observe the breathtaking coastline of Española. Its dramatic cliffs make the perfect runway for waved albatrosses to take off, as they are a very heavy bird. This species of albatross only nest on this tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and our guests were lucky to observe the first albatrosses of the season, as April is the month in which they return to breed.