Things to do. The fit and adventurous go hiking or horse riding in the highlands. A bus from Puerto Ayora takes you to the inland villages of Bellavista and Santa Rosa. Check departure times with a local travel agent or at the CITTEG [bus company] because service isn’t frequent. From Bellavista you can climb the cinder cone of Media Luna. The base of the tallest peak of Santa Cruz, Mt. Crocker [864 m or 2,880 ft], is three kilometers [nearly two miles] further on. The view from the peak of Mt. Crocker is spectacular, taking in the scalesia forest pushing up the lava slopes of the barren volcano and some surrounding islands studded in the emerald sea.

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||