The Charles Darwin Station

On the first day of our Galapagos trip we were taken by bus through the the town of Ayora Port to the Charles Darwin Station. This is a kind of combination research center, ecological rehabilitation center, and zoo.

Most of the islands are part of a national preserve. They make no effort to save species that are endangered by natural forces – such as weather patterns – but they do try to counteract the damage done by man. Since men were the ones who decimated the tortoise populations, the people at the preserve are trying to save them.

They bring tortoises from all over the islands to the Charles Darwin Station and attempt to breed them. As a result, there are a large number of tortoises there. For instance, there is the saddle tortoise, what the guide identified merely as “a female tortoise” , and Lonesome George.

George is the last of his kind. They have tried to breed him with a variety of other tortoises, but all unions have proven sterile. As a result, when George dies, there will be no more of his kind.

Other tortoises are much more successful. The station incubates the eggs. You can see them here behind dusty glass. Sorry, I couldn’t get a better picture. These have started to hatch.

They keep the hatch-lings in pens based on their size/age. You have to look fairly closely at the picture because they tend to look like rocks. Once they have achieved a certain size – about five years of age – they are taken to the appropriate island for their kind and released.

They need to be kept that long because the rats which invaded the islands from freighter ships will kill them up until that age.

There are walkways around, over, and through the enclosures. You can get quite close to the tortoises and land iguana, or observe them from different angles.

From there we walked through Ayora Port down to the docks. It was a pleasant, down-hill walk with a variety of stores to shop from along the way. Since we had very few chances to pick up souvenirs, this was a great opportunity.