Santa Cruz is the most populated of the islands we visited.
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| The highlands of Santa Cruz were the most "tropical" place we visited--green and wet and a great place to see the Galapagos tortoises. | Although the tortoises are on a "farm," the landowner does not own them and they come and go as they please. |
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| While they are accustomed to people, the tortoises still preferred to be left alone. | Mud-wallowing was a favorite activity of the tortoises, although eating and standing around were also popular. |
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| As we went deeper into the woods, tortoises appeared in the most unexpected ways. | After visiting the tortoises, we went looking for the vermillion flycatcher. It took 40 pairs of eyes, but we spotted him. |
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Lunch was at the Finch Bay Hotel, with a chance to relax, catch a nap, or swim in the pool. |
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| True to its name, the hotel had an abundance of Darwin's finches, of many types. Here are two more--small, medium, or large tree finches? Who knows? | |
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| We took the pangas over to the Darwin Research Center, where we discovered that no place is safe from the marine iguanas. | Then we arrived at the Darwin Research Center for a tour of the facilities. |
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| Our guide was Craig MacFarland, who explained the aims and programs at the Center. | A major project is raising tortoises until they are too big to be attacked by introduced predators, and then releasing them. |
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| The baby tortoises would be easy prey if left on their own. | There is a similar program for land iguanas--clearly they lead a hard life here. |
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| After the tour we walked through the town of Santa Cruz to shop or just see the sights. | The most popular stop provided a chance for people to get back in touch with loved ones back home. |
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