Why do most people come to the Galapagos? To see the giant Galapagos tortoises of course! And that is what we promptly did upon arrival.
The Galapagos tortoises live on most of the islands here. We were based on the island of Santa Cruz, and the easiest way for us to see them was to take a taxi up the mountain to their natural habitat. Surprisingly to us, there is more to see than just Galapagos tortoises on this part of the island, so we made a day of it.
We arranged the taxi with Juan Carlos ($50 for him to drive us around for 3+ hours). He was our extremely friendly taxi driver that drove us to our apartment the first day. Since the tortoises are located in the middle of the island, he would stay with us the whole time and drive us wherever we liked. This we found out is normal for anyone visiting the Galapagos tortoises on Santa Cruz.
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Which Tortoise Ranch to Visit?
There are two ranches where you can see the Galapagos tortoises on Santa Cruz Island, El Chato Ranch and Rancho Primicias. We had read reviews of both of the ranches and they seemed fairly similar. Most of the blogs we read referenced El Chato Ranch, but Rancho Primicias had slightly better reviews. We weren’t sure, so we asked our taxi driver for advice.
Juan Carlos told us he had lived on Santa Cruz Island his whole life. We knew he would know the difference between the two and be able to give us a good recommendation. He told us that the two ranches are very similar, with the only real difference being their lava tunnels.
Both ranches have lava tunnels that you can explore, but the one at Rancho Primicias is longer and grander. There are 3 at El Chato but they are supposedly much shorter. We ultimately decided to explore Rancho Primicias for this reason.
Another option to see the Galapagos Tortoises: You can also visit where some tortoises are bred and see baby turtles near Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. Read more about the Charles Darwin Research Station here.
Los Gemelos Sinkholes
Driving up the hill, we were soon enveloped in clouds and a light mist. How quickly the climate changes depending on where you are on the island! The first stop on our adventure was at Los Gemelos (the twins). These are two sinkholes that were created when large lava tunnels collapsed.
The short trail weaves around the outer edges of the sinkholes and through magical looking trees while birds sing around you. It was a fun thing to see, but definitely not something we would have sought out if we were not up there for another reason already.
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Lava Tunnel
After the stroll, we hopped back in the taxi to go to the lava tunnel at Rancho Primicias. Along the drive we saw tortoise crossing signs and sure enough we saw them grazing in the fields and even a couple snoozing on the road.
You descend into the lava tunnel by way of a staircase leading you roughly 30 feet below ground. The tunnel opens up and reveals itself to be much larger and more magnificent than expected. Since the blogs we read never made much mention of them, we thought they’d disappoint. On the contrary, we really enjoyed them.
The kids were hesitant walking in the tunnels. “Are they going to collapse on us?” they asked. Fair question after just seeing two enormous sinkholes that were formed from just that. We also walked past significant piles of debris that clearly resulted from portions of the ceiling and walls collapsing. We continued on despite the risk and navigated the tunnel without issue. Next stop, Galapagos tortoises.
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Galapagos Tortoises
Rancho Primicias is $10 per adult and $5 for each child. This includes a naturalist guide (which is required and should be tipped) and rubber boots. After being fitted for your boots, you start the tour with your guide who talks about the flora and fauna of the area. We learned that October is the cool and dry season. During the hot season, it is much warmer, obviously. It also rains a lot more and there are many more blooming flowers.
We act engaged as our guide points out everything around us including trees, birds, and cows. Everything except the Galapagos tortoises! Eventually we are led further into the property, and that is when we see the big one. The large tortoise on the left is a male and is well over 100 years old!
We explored around the ranch and saw many different tortoises. Here are some of the interesting things we learned:
- The larger ones being males and the smaller ones being females.
- The females travel for 2 weeks to lay their eggs, and then they leave them and walk back.
- The lines on their backs show approximately how old they are. When they are over 100 years old, the lines start to disappear, and they become darker in color.
- They can’t hear. They know someone is coming by feeling the vibrations.
- They sleep with their legs sprawled and their head on the ground.
Visiting the ranch was extremely enjoyable. Look! We even got our pictures taken in some tortoise shells. If you want, you can also have lunch at a restaurant there and there’s a small gift shop.
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