Tortuga Bay
A visit to the Darwin Station can be a hot and exhausting experience, after which a swim might be very welcome. The best place for this is Tortuga [
Turtle] Bay, three kilometers [
just under two miles] southwest of
Puerto Ayora. The bay has a fine white beach, one of the best on the archipelago, beautiful blue sea and a lagoon protected by a spit of land.
Sea turtles come to lay their eggs here, but you’re more likely to spot pelicans, marine iguanas and flamingos. Although the wildlife is protected you don’t need to be accompanied by a
guide and you could well have the beach to yourself.
Most visitors don’t spend much time, if any, in
Puerto Ayora because they are on cruises from the beginning to the end of their island stay. And it’s true that the best way to see the wildlife is by boat. However some people make their reservations when they get to
Puerto Ayora, which means they usually get it for less, last minute price for a cruise [
in the low season], though they might have to spend a few days on Santa Cruz. This is no hardship. Aside from relaxing in the warm sunshine, there are plenty of places to explore and things to do on Santa Cruz.
Tortoise Reserve
From
Santa Rosa, you can visit the wild Tortoise Reserve — wild because of the dense, unruly vegetation, and because the tortoises aren’t tame like those at Darwin Station. The best way to see the reserve is with a
guide and atop a horse. Guides can be hired and horses arranged through travel agents in
Puerto Ayora. There are also a couple of private farms in the area, which supply refreshments and allow you to watch tortoises drinking at a watering hole for a small fee. Another place to watch the lumbering giants in the wild is on
Volcan Alcedo on
Isabela.
Lava Tunnels
From
Bellavista, it’s a short walk to the nearby Lava Tunnels, long tubes of rock formed by the solidification of a lava flow during a volcanic eruption. There are several such tubes on the island but these are the most impressive, one of which is about a kilometer [
just over a half mile] long and as high and wide as a subway tunnel. It is known as “The Tunnel of Endless Love,” because of a heart-shaped hole in its roof. Guides with torches can be hired at
Bellavista to explore these dark labyrinths.
Caleta Tortuga Negra
Several coves and beaches cut into the isolated and rarely visited northwestern shore of Santa Cruz. The most interesting of these is Caleta Tortuga Negra [
Black Turtle Cove] where
green turtles can sometimes be seen during the breeding season from September to February.
Las Bachas
The sand at Las Bachas is made of decomposed coral, which makes it white and soft, and a favorite site for nesting see turtles.
The sally lightfoot crabs are abundant on the lava rocks along the water's edge. These crabs will eat anything they can get their claws on.
On this hike, we saw flamingoes, sally lightfoot crabs, hermit crabs, black necked stilts, and whimbrels.
| |Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton||| |
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