Puerto Ayora
| Puerto Ayora | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
The skyline of Puerto Ayora.
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| Motto: "El corazón de las Galápagos" | |
 Puerto Ayora
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| Coordinates: 0°45′0″S 90°19′0″W / 0.75000°S 90.31667°WCoordinates: 0°45′0″S 90°19′0″W / 0.75000°S 90.31667°W | |
| Country | Ecuador |
| Province | Galápagos |
| Canton | Santa Cruz |
| Parishes | List of urban parishes |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 11,974 |
| Time zone | GALT (UTC-6) |
| Climate | BSh |
Puerto Ayora is a town in central Galápagos, Ecuador. Located on the southern shore of Santa Cruz Island, it is the seat of Santa Cruz Canton. The town is named in honor of Isidro Ayora, an Ecuadorian president. The town is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Santa Cruz.
Puerto Ayora is the most populous town in the Galápagos Islands, with more than 12,000 inhabitants. Puerto Ayora has the best developed infrastructure in the archipelago. The larger of the two Galápagos banks, Banco del Pacifico, is located in Puerto Ayora, as well as schools, hotels, restaurants, clothing stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, marine stores, tourist shops and night clubs. It is the best place in Galápagos for communicating with the outside world via numerous cybercafes with Internet access or telephone offices. Puerto Ayora emergency medical facilities include a new hospital opened in 2006 and the island's only hyperbaric chamber.
The main Avenue is named Avenida Charles Darwin and begins on the main dock of Puerto Ayora and finishes at the Charles Darwin Research Station. Home to both the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápagos National Park, Puerto Ayora is the center of the Galápagos conservation efforts. Island visitors may visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn the history of the islands and future conservation plans. North Seymour Island is an hour away by boat and has a wide array of animals with no people living on the island.
Tortuga Bay is a short walk from center of Puerto Ayora where you can view marine iguanas, birds, galapagos crabs and a natural mangrove where you can spot white tip reef sharks and the gigantic galápagos tortoise.
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Wikipedia