centro de crianza "arnaldo tupiza"

Sweetbug

The tortoises are great to look at on their own... but it's even better when you have a guide taking you around telling you their story. The guides speak English and love telling you about them!It's really close to town, rent a bike and go out there and on your way look for flamingos!

champkis

Went here as part of a day trip to Isabella island from Santa Cruz. It's a nice place, lots of turtles of different ages and they're repopulating them. We had been to the El Chato reserve on Santa Cruz already which was a better experience though as the turtles are roaming around the whole area and it feels more real if that makes sense. I know it's different but I preferred El Chato for that reason. That said, this was an interesting stop to see especially the little turtles and to get some information.

PabloEc2013

Very Nice easy walk thought vegetation and to enjoy mangrooves scenery plus an opportunity to see flamingoes and definitely shoot.....and shoot your cameras. Meet other travellers everybody friendly!,,or was it me first happy and free?? Be a first and will also travell through people.....make your stay a : dont worry be happy and join the joy of life and......relaxation the place is a dont miss it one

carolineenwillem

We visited Centro de Crianza on a short tour. There are a lot of small and bigger turtles around and the highlight where the mating turtles, which takes between 6 and 8 hours. Definiately the recipe to get more than 100 years of age. The centre is nice to visiti, but do not expect to much.

Scott8147

This was an excellent opportunity to see large numbers of tortoises. They have numerous giant ones, but many size groupings from infants on up. We were there during feeding (about three times a week). You may see these in the wild, but this is a good opportunity in case you don't. Plus this guarantees getting some good photos.

samanthaw957

it was great to see how they incubate little turtles to make sure they survive. Being really close to large turtles to get their picture was fantastic. Take a walk in the building to see all the interactive displays

Mags

Reached by a lovely walk past a couple of lagoons where if you are lucky you may see a couple of flamingos feeding, do step over the marine iguanas which consider the board walk to be theirs exclusively. You can also bicycle there along the road. It's about a 20 minute walk from the centre of town. The centre itself is well laid out with many pens housing various sized tortoises who are kept in captivity in very similar conditions to what they will experience in the wild - dry scrubby vegetation. We did not visit as part of a tour so had plenty of time just to watch and observe these fascinating prehistoric creatures. Not being part of a tour meant that we couldn't get further information as there was no one around who we could talk to. The information signs are very basic. We went there several times during our 10 days on Isabela. Only on one occasion did we see any work being done with the tortoises and that was microchipping - an important method of checking progress once released into the wild.Maybe a small charge could be made so that there could be someone around to answer questions as I am sure not everyone takes a guided tour!

Kristin0207

Interesting place to visit. We saw some tortugas mating, and got to feed the babies. The workers were very informative. Wouldn't say this was the highlight of the trip, but it was still awesome. We rented bikes and biked to this place, then went on to see the flamingos and wall of tears. You could easily walk there as well.

vagabondginger

Right at the Iguana Crossing sign is a boardwalk thru a nature area with shore birds and flamingos, marine iguanas, some little ones and some so big they almost look like crocodiles. There are manchineel trees but don't touch the irritating leaves and beware of the manzanitas, little poison apples. The tortoises can eat them but not you! There are the amazing Opuntia Cactus, the only one in the world that grows like a tree with bark. The trail ends at the tortoise breeding center. I had already visited the one in the reserve on San Cristobal Island so just did a quick walk thru of this one. It is much better than the Darwin Center on Santa Cruz though. It's just such a nice walk from town and the beach at this end of town is nice one to take a walk on too.

barbarabT7974WB

If this is the turtle sanctuary I think it is, really amazing, the huge tortoises so close, utterly fascinating, very nice stroll around perimeter. Be sure to visit Campo Duro, if that's the one with turtles being helped to grow large enough to return to wild.

domerloveswa

More tortoises than I could have guessed, all in pens with peers their age. Pretty impressive how effective they've improved the population. No formal guide I saw and displays are dated and falling apart. Amazingly I didn't see anywhere aslking for a donation so I guess paying too much for ice cream at the gift shop will have to do.

Jcichon

it's really interesting and not crowded, nobody trying to sell you things, and peaceful. Plus there are multiple routes to entry and good freedom to roam.

TessicaW

This was about 20 minute walk from town but definitely worth it. There was a lot of info on different tortoises and the chance to see different breeds as well as different aged tortoises. The breeding centre has also increased the wild tortoise population by a lot which is great to learn about too. There is also a lovely walk back through some trees and past some pink lakes (turn left down the path before exiting the centre onto the road)

ZviC200

Informative and important centre. Majestic animals, seen in various stages of development. Not a huge place, so don't miss it. The smaller turtles crowding and clambering on each other was beautiful, and crouch down to hear the sounds of their shells against each other.

BE2468

We took a taxi for a few dollars out to here and then walked back to town along the boardwalk, around 20 mins - leisurely stopping for photos etc on the way back. The tortoises are amazing, so many age variations at the park. This is better than the one on Santa Cruz. So many little tortoises too.