Share this
Twitter
Digg
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Yahoo
Technorati
Googlize this
Facebook
Print
E-mail
SANTA CRUZ (Indefatigable)
Santa Cruz is a convenient starting point for visitors, because of its highly developed tourist infrastructure. It has a great number of hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, dive centers, and tour agencies, which makes it easy to set up land or scuba tours. Puerto Ayora is the best place on the Galapagos to buy souvenirs or stock up on supplies like photo equipment and batteries, medical supplies, food and water.
The Charles Darwin Research Station is also in Puerto Ayora, and is an excellent place to learn more about the conservation efforts taking place in and around the islands. A visit here will also provide visitors with more information on the history, geology, and ecology of the Galapagos.
Santa Cruz is an excellent place to see the famous Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos. It is best to head up to the beautiful grassy highlands of the island, specifically to the easily accessible El Chato Reserve, to see the ancient creatures in their natural habitat. Also in the highlands are the “Los Gemelos” craters, which is the result of collapsed lava tunnels beneath the earth’s surface.
One of the greatest things about Santa Cruz is that a number of its most beautiful sites can be accessed without a guide. Located near Puerto Ayora are Tortuga Bay, a white sand beach and protected swimming area with excellent surfing opportunities, Laguna Las Ninfas, a safe place for swimming and wildlife observation, and La Playa de los Alemanes, which is another white sand beach, surrounded by mangroves. A rocky trail from this beach will lead you to Las Grietas, forty-foot high rock crevices filled with water. Visitors can also go to Las Bachas beach to catch a glimpse of sea turtle eggs laying close to where the sand meets the vegetation.
The biggest town on San Cristobal and the site of San Francisco University is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno....
SAN CRISTOBAL (Chatham)
The island of San Cristobal, located on the southeastern edge of the Galapagos, is by far one of the most visited islands of the archipelago, in part due to the fact that it has an airport, a wide variety of visitor sites and a highly developed tourist infrastructure. The island offers white sand beaches, outstanding snorkeling and scuba-diving activities, great surfing spots and exciting wildlife observation points.
