After your arrival at Baltra airport, collect your bags and travel by comfortable bus to the public ferry on Santa Cruz near the Itabaca canal.  Float across crystal blue waters with views of vast Galapagos landscapes to the other side of the canal where transport will be waiting to deliver you to Puerto Ayora, the hotel zone of Santa Cruz Island. Check out the lava tunnels and a turtle reserve en route to your accommodations and get a taste of what make this part of Ecuador so unique. Eager—and awake—travelers can also make a stop at the Charles Darwin Station, where informative guides and well-kept displays offer up information about indigenous plants and animals that inhabit the Galapagos. Learn about the theory of evolution and observe turtles in captivity—including Lonesome George, the last living Pinta tortoise on earth.