Not much to be said about the tortoises that I haven’t already covered. On Santa Cruz, in the Darwin Research Centre, there is a tortoise called Lonesome George. He is so called because he is the last survivor of his species, as far as anyone knows. Even if they found a female of his species, Lonesome George is 150 years old. Would he really be interested in all that at this hour of his life? Anyway, I can’t tell you much about old George because we never made it to see him. The day we went to the Darwin Research Centre in was 42 degrees with about 80% humidity. We walked 2K in this damp oven as far as the Centre only to find there was another kilometre to go to see George. I wear factor 50 on land (85 at sea) and I was still frying, so I gave up. If the temperature goes down to the low 30s I might give it another go.
Tortoise creche
The Marine Iguanas are for me the strangest creatures we’ve come across. They live off algae that grow on rocks on the sea bed. They dive down and feed for about 20 minutes before coming up for air. Because they are eating under water they take in a certain amount of sea water so, when they come back on land they sit on the rocks or sand squirting salt out from a hole in the tops of their heads. They are amazing climbers and I been standing on cliff tops about 30 meters above sea level when up pops a marine iguana having climbed the whole way.
Marine Iguana - Nesting area
Blending in - looks like a sculpture
Also, in the nesting area we saw dozens of juvenile iguanas shading under a tree.
Some other birds etc….
Next stop is Isabella for a few days. We have a trek booked, on horseback, to the crater of the 2nd largest volcano in the region. The most recent eruption was in 2005 and there is still steam coming out of it!! That will probably be my last blog from the Galapagos.
Miriam – Just had to grab a bit of yr download time – blogs are fantastic – your trip is exciting, interesting, sometimes scary (images of you leaping into heaving rib, trekking in 42 degrees)! It’s an enthalling record, photos amazing, I’m really enjoying it all.
It is very sad about your dog, it must have been a blow to you and you’ll have further adjusting when you come home.
Bridge trundles on, attendance bit patchy – waiting for you to return to keep us in line!
Soon you’ll be off again, take care, be safe – am looking forward reading more. Regards
Ros
Thanks Ros. Yes I was really upset about our dog. And you are right it will only hit me properly once I´m back. Hopefully when I return my brain will be in better shape for bridge. At least we can have our own 4´some. Keep it up. Glad you´re enjoying the blogs.