Santa Cruz Island
We are still on Santa Cruz and this time on the north side. What a difference! Yesterday in the southeast we had the rain, the wet terrain and lush trees. Darwin’s finches were everywhere and the emblematic Galápagos giant tortoises, significant figures on the islands and one of the many showcases of evolution, leisurely moving and grazing on the seasonal herbs. Today we are at dragon hill. This location, unlike the southeast, is influenced by the rain shadow; therefore the vegetation is either dead or dormant waiting for the arrival of the rains to trigger a new life cycle for most of the organisms that inhabit the place.
Our activities started in the morning with kayaking and Zodiac rides around a cluster of small rocky islets named Venice. These islets are a unique place for the visitor searching for wildlife and that’s what we found. We soon came to the mangrove forest home of several types of seabirds; among them herons, pelicans and frigate birds that frequent the channels in search of their daily meals. The roots of the mangroves are shelter for many types of fish, and therefore we found large predators such as sharks roaming around the channels and lagoons.
Later on we had a meeting with the marine life and we headed to the snorkeling site. The undersea world is a different story; cool waters and lots of currents are the ingredients for a great marine production. This creates the myriad of organisms that make these islands so special.
After lunch, Zodiac driving lessons were the delight of our young explorers followed by a dry landing on a trail which passed by a small brackish lagoon. Here we found some flamingos feeding as they unhurriedly moved across the lagoon. Meanwhile we went for a walk to visit a breeding colony of land iguanas. We started walking through a dry deciduous forest to finally reach the iguanas’ colony among the cacti trees. Cacti play an important role in the life of the iguanas because in a dry place like this they are the only source of fresh water and food for months on end. In other words cacti are the source life for these long lived reptiles.
We are still on Santa Cruz and this time on the north side. What a difference! Yesterday in the southeast we had the rain, the wet terrain and lush trees. Darwin’s finches were everywhere and the emblematic Galápagos giant tortoises, significant figures on the islands and one of the many showcases of evolution, leisurely moving and grazing on the seasonal herbs. Today we are at dragon hill. This location, unlike the southeast, is influenced by the rain shadow; therefore the vegetation is either dead or dormant waiting for the arrival of the rains to trigger a new life cycle for most of the organisms that inhabit the place.
Our activities started in the morning with kayaking and Zodiac rides around a cluster of small rocky islets named Venice. These islets are a unique place for the visitor searching for wildlife and that’s what we found. We soon came to the mangrove forest home of several types of seabirds; among them herons, pelicans and frigate birds that frequent the channels in search of their daily meals. The roots of the mangroves are shelter for many types of fish, and therefore we found large predators such as sharks roaming around the channels and lagoons.
Later on we had a meeting with the marine life and we headed to the snorkeling site. The undersea world is a different story; cool waters and lots of currents are the ingredients for a great marine production. This creates the myriad of organisms that make these islands so special.
After lunch, Zodiac driving lessons were the delight of our young explorers followed by a dry landing on a trail which passed by a small brackish lagoon. Here we found some flamingos feeding as they unhurriedly moved across the lagoon. Meanwhile we went for a walk to visit a breeding colony of land iguanas. We started walking through a dry deciduous forest to finally reach the iguanas’ colony among the cacti trees. Cacti play an important role in the life of the iguanas because in a dry place like this they are the only source of fresh water and food for months on end. In other words cacti are the source life for these long lived reptiles.
