Yesterday we visited the Charles Darwin Research Center here on Santa Cruz Island, just a short walk from the town of Puerto Ayora. It was truly awesome. Regardless of one’s views regarding his theory of evolution, Darwin deserves tremendous credit for putting the Galapagos on the map. These islands are just teeming with wildlife of both the marine- and land-dwelling varieties. Many of the species of birds, iguanas, tortoises, etc. are not seen anywhere else in the world. I also think the country of Ecuador gets credit for balancing the desire to generate revenue with the need to preserve the natural habitats of these creatures. (Of course the latter contributes to the former.)

Prior to these recent conservation efforts, foreign animals such as goats, rats, and feral cats that had been brought to the islands competed for resources, altered the habitats, and left some of the endemic species vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. One such species is the Española tortoise, which had dropped down to 15 in number. The conservationists intervened by keeping the remaining tortoises in captivity and transferring their eggs into artificial incubators powered by hair dryers! Following the hatching of the eggs, the young tortoises are kept in captivity there at the Center until they are 3-5 years old, at which time they transfer them to the island of Española. Thanks to the efforts of the Darwin Center, there are now over 1,000 of these tortoises, and they are really cool to watch as they saunter around, seemingly in slow motion.

In addition to the Española tortoises, the Center houses Giant Galapagos tortoises, the one and only Pinta Tortoise in existence called Lonesome George (see Wes’ blog for more info), and a couple of land iguanas. There is also an abundance of finches of many varieties with their distinctly different beaks (it is easy to see how these piqued Darwin’s curiosity), lizards. On the beach nearby, Dallas and I saw some marine iguanas that blended perfectly with the volcanic rock as well as a couple of varieties of crabs.

Wes and Tiffany visited the Center yesterday morning, and Dallas and I checked it out later in the afternoon. Between the two trips, many photos were taken (use the link above to check them out), some of which seem to almost capture the experience of seeing these creatures in person. They are all accustomed to people, so it is possible to get really close to them. Thanks to Wes for taking the time to organize, crop, and label all the photos.

The four of us are now packed and ready for a 2-day excursion to the neighboring Isabela island. We are taking a little speedboat over this afternoon and will stay in a hotel for the next 2 nights (you know what that means–hot showers!!). Tomorrow we are told that we will snorkel in crystalline water among diverse fish, dolphins, and flamingoes, go horseback riding along the volcanic landscape, and observe the sea lions, gulls, and boobies (birds, mind you). It should be great fun! We have the camera with us, and as our photojournalist friend Colin has reminded us, we can’t take too many pictures!