Today we visited Puerto Ayora, the tourist capital of the Galapagos with the largest human population. Right from the start we could feel the hot season and conditions typical of this island. We saw a few places with graffiti, the wall where the bus picked us up and the cemetery were particularly beautiful and represent the deep connection between nature and humans.
We visited the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, both founded in 1959. The Charles Darwin Research Station provides critical advice to guide the management and conservation strategies implemented by the Galapagos National Park.
At the Galapagos National Park, we visited the tortoise path, a new exhibit that highlights critical issues such as the control and eradication of invasive species and the conservation efforts to restore critical populations of giant tortoises and finches. We also visited Lonesome George exhibit, the last tortoise of Pinta (passed away in 2012) to remind us about the fragility of the Islands.
Later, we travel for 20 minutes along the humid zone, to visit El Trapiche, a locally owned farm. There we observed the elaboration of coffee, chocolate and liqueur. Then we went to El Aquelarre, a beautiful restaurant surrounded by lush vegetation. Finally, we visited El Chato II, a private farm where we could observe the giant tortoises of the highlands of Santa Cruz. The doom shape predominates in this area were the vegetation is abundant.
