Viewing Tortoises: Charles Darwin Station vs. The Highlands
Many travelers insist they need an itinerary that visits the Charles Darwin Station, believing it will be an amazing stop on their journey. While the Darwin Station does some fantastic work in protecting and promoting endemic life on the Galapagos Islands, most of that work is done in areas that tourists are not allowed to visit. The section of the station that you are allowed to tour is essentially a glorified zoo.
Santa Cruz - Puerto Ayora - Charles Darwin Station (Erin Correia)
Now, if you have a special interest in seeing a breeding program in action, or you want to see several different species of tortoise in close proximity to each other, it is a nice stop. It is also one of the only guaranteed sightings of a giant tortoise. That being said, you are seeing the tortoises in pens and enclosures and not in their natural habitat, and the experience is no different than going to your local zoo…if your zoo featured ONLY tortoises and maybe an iguana or two.
Santa Cruz - Puerto Ayora - iguanas everywhere (Erin Correia) Genovesa - Darwin Bay - Sea lion love (Erin Correia)
If your goal is to see the giant tortoises in an authentic way, I recommend an itinerary that visits the highlands instead. The giant tortoises can be found in their natural environment in the highlands on several different islands, but particularly San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabela. Here, you can see them roaming in fields or through brush, munching away at foliage, enjoying a mud bath and possibly even mating! In the cooler season, you can barely walk 5 feet without stumbling upon another giant tortoise. In the hot season, they can be a little tougher to spot, but you can usually find at least one or two.
Santa Cruz - Black Turtle Cove - living up to its name with plenty of turtles (Erin Correia)
I have had the chance to visit both the Station and the natural habitat of the tortoises and the experiences did not even begin to compare to each other. The highlands were the far superior area to have a “tortoise encounter,” and I would recommend this over the Station to any traveler visiting the islands.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.
