Santa Cruz Island
It was quite obvious that the rainy season has not yet given up on the archipelago. At breakfast a light sprinkle started, and by the time we started disembarking, it was pouring. It just went to show how wonderful our guests are, that these conditions didn’t faze them in the least. Someone was smiling, however, because by the time the third Zodiac had loaded and left, the sun came through and the rain stopped. In fact the conditions remained perfect the entire morning – cloudy, no rain!
The giant tortoise raising program operated by the Galápagos National Park with consultancy from the Charles Darwin Research Station is a tremendous success. Almost from the start, the hatching rates of tortoise eggs have been higher here than in facilities using higher-tech methods elsewhere. This year was particularly difficult for the tortoises, in that the heavy rains flooded nesting areas several times. Park wardens and station personnel had to keep a close eye on the timing of the hatching, but even so, quite a few were lost when nests in remote locations filled with rain water with no chance to reach them in time. Many survived, but this year at any rate, the overall hatching success was low.
But this has happened many, many times over the eons of the presence of giant tortoises in Galápagos. And this too, will pass. In another month the rains will stop, the islands will dry, the leaves will fall, and we will once again resemble the most arid and desolate of island environments.
For the moment, however, our time in the highlands (after leaving the swimming pool and restaurant), stayed dry, though the ground was soggy. A brief shower as the buses travelled across the island from east to west, but the sun shown on domed carapaces in green ponds and brightened the afternoon.
In town the dock was busy with cargo from the ships bringing provisions from the mainland. As Galápagos has no dock for large items, even pick-ups trucks are brought in to shore by barge along with sacks of potatoes, refrigerators and tires to supply the burgeoning population of the islands. Immigration and quarantine programs are essential and important to the well-being of these islands. The Park recently received a large financial donation to help develop further the quarantine program, but it is and will be a challenge. Only the future will tell how successful all of us are in demonstrating how much we care for these islands by controlling potentially invasive species.
It was quite obvious that the rainy season has not yet given up on the archipelago. At breakfast a light sprinkle started, and by the time we started disembarking, it was pouring. It just went to show how wonderful our guests are, that these conditions didn’t faze them in the least. Someone was smiling, however, because by the time the third Zodiac had loaded and left, the sun came through and the rain stopped. In fact the conditions remained perfect the entire morning – cloudy, no rain!
The giant tortoise raising program operated by the Galápagos National Park with consultancy from the Charles Darwin Research Station is a tremendous success. Almost from the start, the hatching rates of tortoise eggs have been higher here than in facilities using higher-tech methods elsewhere. This year was particularly difficult for the tortoises, in that the heavy rains flooded nesting areas several times. Park wardens and station personnel had to keep a close eye on the timing of the hatching, but even so, quite a few were lost when nests in remote locations filled with rain water with no chance to reach them in time. Many survived, but this year at any rate, the overall hatching success was low.
But this has happened many, many times over the eons of the presence of giant tortoises in Galápagos. And this too, will pass. In another month the rains will stop, the islands will dry, the leaves will fall, and we will once again resemble the most arid and desolate of island environments.
For the moment, however, our time in the highlands (after leaving the swimming pool and restaurant), stayed dry, though the ground was soggy. A brief shower as the buses travelled across the island from east to west, but the sun shown on domed carapaces in green ponds and brightened the afternoon.
In town the dock was busy with cargo from the ships bringing provisions from the mainland. As Galápagos has no dock for large items, even pick-ups trucks are brought in to shore by barge along with sacks of potatoes, refrigerators and tires to supply the burgeoning population of the islands. Immigration and quarantine programs are essential and important to the well-being of these islands. The Park recently received a large financial donation to help develop further the quarantine program, but it is and will be a challenge. Only the future will tell how successful all of us are in demonstrating how much we care for these islands by controlling potentially invasive species.
