Galapagos Additional Activities July 7-21
A Week of Family Adventures and Memories for a lifetime!
Galapagos is one of the most exciting destinations in the world. Guests will have the opportunity to dive with playful Sea Lions, travel to the famous Darwin and Wolf for thrilling diving to see Hammerhead Sharks, Whale Sharks, clouds of Tuna and much more. The scenic view of the Darwin Arch is is as picturesque as you can imagine. M.Y. Wolf Buddy and M.Y. Darwin Buddy are sister ships and depart from San Cristobal every Saturday afternoon. Diving begins Sunday morning through Friday morning. Friday afternoon and Saturday we will get to experience some of the great topside sites with land tours to the Breeding Center and Interpretation Center.
Friday we will visit the BREEDING CENTER "Fausto Llerena"
The tour starts at the information booth of the Galapagos National Park, where you'll find travel reports. Passengers who have not yet purchased their park entrance passes can do so here. The trail continues to the Van Straelen interpretation Center, then to the breeding center and from there begins an elevated circular path made of wood, where you can see Lonesome George and tortoises of Española Island, ending in the tortoise exhibit corral. Tortoises of this corral are accustomed to humans; it is an excellent spot for visitors to be photographed with them. Always remind your visitors not to touch them and not to step on the platform where they're food is placed. The path continues to the CDRS facilities and then to the town of Puerto Ayora.
The Galapagos breeding program is conducted by GNP staff with the collaboration of scientists from the CDRS. The eggs are brought from the Galapagos Islands of Pinzón, Santiago and Santa Cruz to the station. The eggs are incubated artificially; the galapaguitos are born and reared until the age of 5 years, when they can survive the effects of introduced predators (rats, pigs and dogs). Then they are returned to their native areas. Since 1970, more than 2000 galapaguitos have returned to the native areas. Over 400 are in breeding and will promptly be returned to their place of origin. For this to succeed, it needs the corresponding control programs and eradication of non-native animals to continue. A good example of success that this program can have is Española Island. The entire population of Galapagos tortoises of this island, two males and twelve females, were brought to the station for the captive breeding program, since their number was so low that they could not find each other on the field. In 1976, a third male from Española was sent from San Diego Zoo, USA, to be added to the program. Over 1000 galapaguitos of this race have been returned to Española, an island that can now be considered free of non-native animals, due to the eradication of goats in 1978. It should be noted that the galapaguitos from Española are repatriated at one and a half years old now that there is no danger. Great effort and many financial resources are needed to achieve results like those of Española on other sites.
Following the devastating depredation that wild dogs have caused the populations of land iguanas, Conolophus subcristatus, in Santa Cruz and Isabela, in 1976 the Station and the GNPS began a breeding program for these reptiles. At present, iguanas have been repatriated to Cerro Carthage in Isabela, but with little success because the place still has wild dogs; on the other hand, iguanas repatriated in Conway and Dragon Hill seem to have been well established, but they are very shy and elusive. There is also a iguana breeding program at North Seymour Island, originally from Baltra, without reproductive success for many years, when the program began there was only an adult population. Since 1991, through an agreement between the SAF, the Park and the Station, iguanas have been repatriated to Baltra. So far, their survival has been successful.
Saturday morning we will head to the Interpretation Center:
The work of the Interpretation Center in San Cristobal is one of the components of the project "Plan of Interpretation and Environmental Education for the Galapagos Island", funded by the government of Spain through the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) in coordination with the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park and the support of the Charles Darwin Foundation.
It was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Ecuador, Dr. Jamil Mahuad, and the Prince of Asturias, Felipe de Borbón, in August 1998.
The tour offered by the Center for Interpretation's facilities takes us through the history of the islands in the context of nature, humankind and conservation.
The Museum of Natural History explains a series of natural circumstances such as the volcanic origins of the islands, their remoteness from the continent, its ocean currents, its special climate, the arrival of different species, and their establishment, among others.
The Human History exhibit narrates chronologically the most significant events related to the discovery and colonization of the Galapagos.
The second level describes the reality of today's Galapagos: the problems and the struggle of several institutions and individuals to conserve Galapagos.
The Center has an outdoor theater and a cinema.
REMINDER: ALL US PASSPORTS MUST BE VALID FOR UP 6 SIX MONTHS PRIOR TO EXPIRATION DATE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY. AIRLINES ARE ENFORCING THIS
All schedules, itineraries and package inclusions are subject to
