Travel Galapagos Islands & Ecuador

EL Chato Tortoise Reserve

Posted September 21st, 2008 by Bob the Sea Lion

Near Santa Rosa, is El Chato Tortoise Reserve,

where you can observe giant tortoises

in the wild. The reserve is also a good place to

look for short-eared owls, Darwin’s finches,

yellow warblers, Galápagos rails and paintbilled

crakes (these last two are difficult to

see in the long grass).

A trail from Santa Rosa leads through

private property to parkland about 3km

away. The trail is downhill and often muddy.

Horses can be hired in Santa Rosa – ask at

the store/bar on the main road for directions

to the outfitter’s house. The trail forks at the

park boundary, with the right fork going

up to the small hill of Cerro Chato (3km

further) and the left fork going to La Caseta

(2km). The trails can be hard to follow, and

you should carry water. The reserve is part of

the national park, and a guide is required.

Next to the reserve is Rancho Permiso (admission

$4), a private ranch owned by the Devine

family. This place often has dozens of giant

tortoises, and you can wander around at will

and take photos for a fee. The entrance is

beyond Santa Rosa, off the main road – ask

locals for directions. Stay on the main tracks

to avoid getting lost. Remember to close any

gates that you go through. There is a café selling

cold drinks and hot tea, which is welcome

if the highland mist has soaked you.

OTHER SITES

There are several attractive spots in or

around Puerto Ayora. The small white-sand

beach in front of the Finch Bay Hotel ( p366 )

is a good place to while away a few hours.

The water here is pristine and sharks have

been known to pass through the cove. For

nice swimming and snorkeling, head to Las

Grietas, a water-filled crevice in the rocks.

Take a water taxi (per person $0.50) to the

dock for the Angermeyer Point restaurant

( p366 ), then walk past the Finch Bay Hotel,

then through an interesting salt mine and

finally hike down to the water. Good shoes

are needed for the walk which takes about

30 minutes. Just behind the Casa de Lago

and Hotel Fiesta is the Laguna Las Ninfas, an

emerald-green watering hole popular with

cannon-balling children.

A beautiful 40-minute taxi ride from

Puerto Ayora (per person $5) through the

highlands brings you to Garrapatero beach

which has tidal pools good for exploring, a

lagoon with flamingos and nice snorkeling

on calm days.

The remaining Santa Cruz visitor sites

are reached by boat and with guides. On

the west coast are Whale Bay and Conway

Bay, and on the north coast are Black Turtle

Cove (Caleta Tortuga Negra) and Las Bachas.

Between these two areas is the relatively

new visitor site of Cerro Dragón. Conway Bay

has a 1.5km trail passing a lagoon with flamingos;

Whale Bay isn’t visited very often.

North of Conway Bay, Cerro Dragón has

two small lagoons that may have flamingos

and a 1.75km trail that leads through

a forest of palo santo (holy wood) trees

THE GALÁPA G O S I S L A N D S • • I s l a S a n t a C r u z ( I n d e f a t i g a b l e ) 361

© Lonely Planet Publications

T H E G A L Á PA G O S I S L A N D S

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and opuntia cacti to a small hill with good

views. There are some large repatriated land

iguanas here.

There is no landing site in Black Turtle

Cove, which is normally visited by panga

(small boats). The cove has many little inlets

and is surrounded by mangroves, where

you can see lava herons and pelicans. The

main attraction is in the water: marine turtles

are sometimes seen mating, schools of

golden mustard rays are often present, and

white-tipped sharks may be seen basking

in the shallows. This site is occasionally

visited by day boats from Puerto Ayora.

The nearby Las Bachas beach, although

popular for sunbathing and swimming, is

often deserted.

Tags: Tortoise Reserve