Size: 986 km2
Altitude:864 m

The visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station gives the opportunity to get to known the scientific work taking place in the National Park. Especially the captive raising programs for the different subspecies of the giant tortoises are very well documented.

It is also a good opportunity to watch the Galapagos tortoises up-close; the symbol of Galapagos. In the Van Straiten Exhibition Hall, there is great documentation about the Galapagos islands with photos and diagrams. The vegetation on this hike is exuberant green, and a lot of Darwin's finches are easy to spot.

Drive up to the highlands in a bus. In a short time one can see the transition between the different vegetation zones from the Arid zone to the Transition zone up to the Scalesia zone (and agricultural area), where the problems of introduced animals and plants are quite obvious. On the highest point of the road the National Park start again.

"Los Gemelos" (that means twins) are two big pit craters in the middle of a wonderful Scalesia forest. These endemic trees and the lush vegetation, with a lot of different ferns, mosses and liverworts, show a totally new picture of Galapagos. Darwin's Finches and the vermilion flycatcher inhabit these "jungle".

With the dinghy we go into the big protected mangrove cove. In the far away small corners we turn off the motor of the dinghy rowing then noiselessly to observe the marine turtles.

There are a lot of them in the cove during mating and nesting season (December to February), but even out of season there are always some turtles staying back in the mangrove cove to rest. Spotted eagle rays, golden rays, white-tipped reef sharks and young Galapagos sharks can often be spotted.