This morning we left Isla Isabela on the 6:00AM speed boat. The crossing to Santa Cruz took only about an 1.5 hours. Again, we sat up top with the captain.
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| Weather when we left |
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| Captain |
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| Looks like a speedy trip |
When we arrived in Santa Cruz we found a hotel to stay in, Hotel Lirio del Mar. ($30.00/night) We left our bags in the room and headed out to find some breakfast.
We found a cute little restaurant and had our first really good cup of coffee on this whole trip, expresso.
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| Coffee Stop |
We next headed for the Charles Darwin Research Center but on the way we passed the local fish market. The fishermen off loaded their fish at this market where it was cut up, sold or left whole and trucked off to some place. The pelicans, Frigate birds and sea lions were there getting there share of the fish.
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| Morning Catch |
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| After the scraps. |
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| Being feed the Scraps |
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| Waiting for their Share |
The Charles Darwin Research Center encompasses quite a large area. There is an information center, housing and eating facility for the researchers that live on site, large tortuga breeding center, land iquana pens, administration offices, natural garden area and walkways that connect everything together.
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| Entrance to Darwin Center |
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| Path to Darwin Center |
The CDRC has five species of Tortugas (tortoises) that they are trying to bring back from extinction. They hatch the eggs, raise the tortoises and when they are around five years old they release them back to the island they originally came from.
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| 5-years |
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| 15 years |
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| 25+ years |
Lonesome George died this summer and his death meant the extinction of the Pinta Tortugas.
The Center has a horticulture area where they are raising plants to revive the original fauna and flora. The plant nursery is
where they are trying to reestablish plants that are on the brink of extinction. They raise the plants and then replant them on the islands where they were originally found.
The center is trying to breed these land iguanas as they are in danger of extinction.
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| Very Poisonous but not to tortoises |
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