Santa Cruz

Out of all the islands we stayed at Santa Cruz the longest as it was where we started our 4th class, Political Ecology. We also boarded the Eden Yacht for our cruise in Santa Cruz. Some highlights include visits to the Charles Darwin Research Station, walks to a "big wave" beach, giant tortoises (who I challenged to a race), lava tube caves, volcanic craters, white-tipped reef sharks, and sea turtles in the mangrove forest! Santa Cruz is the most populated island and probably the most touristic. Not my favorite--but definitely nice to have larger food choices :) Including spaghetti with marinara, pecan pie, quesidillas, and lasanga! YUM! I officially added pecan pie to the list of food I need to eat when I get back.

We hiked in a cave made from flowing lava!

Giant tortoise! To be honest I don't know if I ever saw "Lonesome George", the famous almost extinct Galapagos Tortoise. He is the last one of his species, but just recentley mated with another hybrid species. Everyone is waiting to see if the egg hatches and a viable tortoise comes out. We have been told if this does happen, there will be big parties and celebrations all over the Galapagos! I never went on a guided tour where Lonesome George was, but I did go for a morning run through the trails of the giant tortoises...so maybe I saw him.

Here is a white tipped reef shark and a sea turtle. I took these pictures from our dingy boat when touring the mangrove forests!