Today is the day we hiked among giants! We anchored on the northern part of Santa Cruz Island. We drove uphill, where we could see changes in the vegetation from the coastal zone with mangroves, passing through the dry zone with palo santo, and finally reaching the humid zone. We had to stop here to see this unique cloud forest. This magical place features a forest of scalesias, a tree endemic to the Galapagos Islands. In this forest we also spotted on several species of finches.
We drove for a few minutes more to reach the giant tortoise natural reserve. This place is astonishing! Here the green vegetation, ponds, and fresh grass are the perfect habitat for the Galapagos giant tortoises. They do not need to go elsewhere for food, water, or shelter. They have everything right here on this land! It was indeed a very inspiring morning hiking among giant tortoises in their natural habitat.
After having lunch in this paradise surrounded by the unique environment, we headed back home. To close the day, we went to a secret beach to enjoy a beautiful sunset with our National Geographic Endeavour II family.
