The Santa Cruz Highlands — El Chato and the Tortoise Reserves
Short answer
The highlands of Santa Cruz are wet green pasture where wild giant tortoises graze freely — unfenced, unmanaged and not in an enclosure. El Chato and the neighbouring private reserves are the most reliable place in the archipelago to see them, and you get there by road from Puerto Ayora.
On this page — 7 sections
Everywhere else you see tortoises in a breeding centre behind a wall. Here they are in a farmer’s field, moving where they want, and you are the one who has to get out of the way.
The Santa Cruz highlands at a glance
| Island | Santa Cruz, highlands |
|---|---|
| How you get there | Road from Puerto Ayora, roughly half an hour |
| Guide | Not required at the private reserves |
| Cost | Entrance charged by each private reserve |
| Terrain | Wet grass and mud. Boots are usually lent |
| Also here | Lava tunnels and the twin sinkholes, Los Gemelos |
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Santa Cruz — The Santa Cruz highlands
The highlands of Santa Cruz are wet green pasture where wild giant tortoises graze freely — unfenced, unmanaged and not in an enclosure. El Chato and the neighbouring private reserves are the most reliable place in the archipelago to see them, and you get there by road from Puerto Ayora.
How you get there
- Taxi from Puerto Ayora
- A pickup up the main road, agreed for a half day with waiting time. The simplest option and easy to arrange the same morning.
- On an organised day tour
- Usually combines a reserve, a lava tunnel and Los Gemelos. Better value if you want the geology too.
It sits on Santa Cruz, so how you reach the island decides how you reach this.
What you actually see
Wild tortoises in the open
Grazing in the pasture and sitting in ponds. Dozens, at any time of year. They are genuinely wild — the reserve is a farm that stopped fighting them.
The lava tunnels
Collapsed tubes you walk through, lit and floored on most properties. Cool, dark and a complete change from the coast.
The change in climate
The coast can be bone dry while the highlands are in cloud and dripping. That contrast, over half an hour of road, is the clearest lesson in the islands.
What goes wrong
We run these trips, so we know what people complain about afterwards. Better to read it here than find out on the day.
- People come dressed for the beach
- The highlands are wet, muddy and cooler. Shorts and sandals make for a miserable hour. Reserves lend rubber boots; take a layer for the cloud.
- The mosquitoes
- Real, and worst around the ponds where the tortoises are. Repellent before you get out of the car.
- Getting too close for the photograph
- A tortoise that pulls its head in with a hiss has been disturbed, and that costs it energy. Two metres, and let it graze.
Who this is not for
Saying this costs us bookings and saves the trip. If any of these is you, tell us and we will build the day differently.
- Anyone unwilling to walk on wet, uneven, muddy ground.
- Visitors who want a guaranteed dry, warm morning — the highlands are usually neither.
- People expecting an enclosure with signage. This is a working farm with wild animals in it.
What lives here
- Galápagos giant tortoise — Wild and free-ranging. The most reliable sighting in the islands.
- Darwin’s finches — Several species together in the scalesia forest.
- Galápagos rail — Rare, secretive, and occasionally heard in the wet grass.
Nearby
Tortuga Bay
Santa Cruz
What it is →Las Grietas
Santa Cruz
What it is →Black Turtle Cove
Santa Cruz
What it is →Las Bachas
Santa Cruz
What it is →Charles Darwin Research Station
Santa Cruz
What it is →El Garrapatero
Santa Cruz
What it is →Every visitor site we have written up → · Santa Cruz, the whole island →
Questions people also ask
Where is the best place to see wild Galápagos tortoises?
The Santa Cruz highlands — El Chato and the neighbouring private reserves. They are free-ranging there, not in an enclosure, and present all year.
Do you need a guide for the highlands?
Not at the private reserves, which are outside the guided visitor-site system. You pay an entrance and walk.
What should you wear?
Long trousers, closed shoes and a layer for the cloud. Reserves lend rubber boots because the ground is wet nearly all year.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. If one of them changes and we have not caught up, tell us and we will fix it the same day.
Planning this trip yourself?
Send us the dates and what you actually want to see. A planner in Cuenca reads it and replies within one business day — not a template, and not a bot.
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