Santa Cruz Island
Today while we were visiting the tortoises in captivity and the rearing center at the National Park Service, it felt just like the tropics – hot! Most people would find this rather normal, because we are in the tropics; though the Galápagos Islands lay right on the equator, normally the weather here is rather cool due the presence of a complex pattern of sea currents.
Regular bases not always means “normal conditions,” since normal could be many things at the same time in these latitudes. The heat we were experiencing today is the ever present companion of the rainy season, as we are experiencing it at this time of the year.
It is probably unnecessary to mention how happy the tortoises must feel due the amount of food that this time of the year brings, and for a while we explored the highlands of Santa Cruz looking for them, finding mostly youngsters, as the big males are way down into the mid-lands playing a very important role in the cycle of life – reproducing.
Above our heads dark clouds were accumulating and it was possible to hear thunder in the distance. That’s uncommon! This did not affect the behavior of Giant tortoises at all as they continued with their normal peaceful activities.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring and observing not only the tortoises, but the incredible amount of birds found in this dense forest of giant daisies and the nearby giant crater-like formations known as the gemelos (twins).
Today while we were visiting the tortoises in captivity and the rearing center at the National Park Service, it felt just like the tropics – hot! Most people would find this rather normal, because we are in the tropics; though the Galápagos Islands lay right on the equator, normally the weather here is rather cool due the presence of a complex pattern of sea currents.
Regular bases not always means “normal conditions,” since normal could be many things at the same time in these latitudes. The heat we were experiencing today is the ever present companion of the rainy season, as we are experiencing it at this time of the year.
It is probably unnecessary to mention how happy the tortoises must feel due the amount of food that this time of the year brings, and for a while we explored the highlands of Santa Cruz looking for them, finding mostly youngsters, as the big males are way down into the mid-lands playing a very important role in the cycle of life – reproducing.
Above our heads dark clouds were accumulating and it was possible to hear thunder in the distance. That’s uncommon! This did not affect the behavior of Giant tortoises at all as they continued with their normal peaceful activities.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring and observing not only the tortoises, but the incredible amount of birds found in this dense forest of giant daisies and the nearby giant crater-like formations known as the gemelos (twins).
