Santa Cruz Island
The day started with absolutely clear skies overhead, which meant we left the ship in high hopes of not getting wet today. However, as is necessary at this time of year, we were prepared for rain anyway.
On arrival, the giant tortoises at the Galápagos National Park rearing centre were milling on their feeding platforms, a behaviour we all could see showed their interest and precise knowledge of Important Events in Their Lives. We watched with fascination every movement made by the small donut-sized individuals (one up-side down for a few minutes until the caretaker came along to right it), wondered about awesome Lonesome George and Diego (or “Superstud”), and watched love-struck land iguanas mooning over each other through the mesh windows.
In Diego’s enclosure, the females accompanying him in his destiny to repopulate the entire island of Española, had all very muddy carapaces which leads us to only one conclusion: the project is doing well. In fact his offspring and those of the other two males and six females will possibly re-populate the island of Pinta as well as Española, in a new direction being taken to restore healthy ecosystems, not just separate species.
As soon as we were all ready to board the buses after lunch and take to the road towards the highlands, the sky opened up and the rain began to fall in earnest. Driving along the road allowed a view of something almost never seen in these normally arid islands – a river! It was temporary, wouldn’t last, but impressive all the same for its rarity.
Fortunately rubber boots and rain ponchos were handy, though on arrival to the pit craters the ponchos came off when the clouds moved on. Seeing the giant reptiles walking freely through wet grass and mud puddles made wearing the rubber boots worth while. The huge, lumbering animals paid little heed to the climatic conditions. The temperature is warm, food is plentiful, life is good. What more could any decent tortoise ask for?
The day started with absolutely clear skies overhead, which meant we left the ship in high hopes of not getting wet today. However, as is necessary at this time of year, we were prepared for rain anyway.
On arrival, the giant tortoises at the Galápagos National Park rearing centre were milling on their feeding platforms, a behaviour we all could see showed their interest and precise knowledge of Important Events in Their Lives. We watched with fascination every movement made by the small donut-sized individuals (one up-side down for a few minutes until the caretaker came along to right it), wondered about awesome Lonesome George and Diego (or “Superstud”), and watched love-struck land iguanas mooning over each other through the mesh windows.
In Diego’s enclosure, the females accompanying him in his destiny to repopulate the entire island of Española, had all very muddy carapaces which leads us to only one conclusion: the project is doing well. In fact his offspring and those of the other two males and six females will possibly re-populate the island of Pinta as well as Española, in a new direction being taken to restore healthy ecosystems, not just separate species.
As soon as we were all ready to board the buses after lunch and take to the road towards the highlands, the sky opened up and the rain began to fall in earnest. Driving along the road allowed a view of something almost never seen in these normally arid islands – a river! It was temporary, wouldn’t last, but impressive all the same for its rarity.
Fortunately rubber boots and rain ponchos were handy, though on arrival to the pit craters the ponchos came off when the clouds moved on. Seeing the giant reptiles walking freely through wet grass and mud puddles made wearing the rubber boots worth while. The huge, lumbering animals paid little heed to the climatic conditions. The temperature is warm, food is plentiful, life is good. What more could any decent tortoise ask for?
