Santa Cruz Island

It was an early start to fly from Quito to the Galapagos but the view of the mountains from the plane was well worth it.
First day in Galapagos was on Santa Cruz island. Driving to our accommodation, we saw a giant tortoise in the wild.
We then visited the Charles Darwin Research Centre, where we saw baby tortoises being raised as well as some adult tortoises. It was interesting to learn there are 15 distinct giant tortoise species on the Galapagos islands, 1 for each volcano but when Lonely George passed away in 2012 he was the last of his species and we are down to 12.Read more