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| A dome shell tortoise |
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The Galapagos trip ended up being a saga rather than a post. For links to the whole trip please go to the first Galapagos post.
This was the last full day in the Galapagos. It was more of what I expected from a tour, a very good tour. I was also beginning to run out of steam at this point. Not their fault, just me getting tired. It was also the only time we got to go around an inhabited part of the islands.
This page is dedicated to Renee who went on a Galapagos expedition and set me to thinking about doing it and Jenny, Saraj, and Riggy who showed me to be a very amateur photographer was another way to make sense of what I was seeing. ("Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." attributed to many people, but I heard from Faith Petric.)
We landed at Puerto Ayora, one of the few large towns (or perhaps small city) on Santa Cruz Island. Immediately we saw three differences.
- There were people here. We really had not seen anyone outside of our group and the crew other than an other group in the distance.
- Here there were cars, small ones, pickups, motorcycles, and buses. That also meant roads. and traffic rules. And bicycles. Bicycles seem to be an obvious choice for a place that would be difficult to import cars. On the other hand, after the port everything is significantly up hill. While Kay and I were sitting near the port, I think I figured something out. There were lots of white 4 door pickup trucks. Different brands, but all white and all 4 door. I think some were taxis (official and otherwise.) People would put a bicycle in the back, and get in the front. Hmm, ride the bike downhill to work, and get a lift up the hill for the home trip.
- But the big difference is the vegetation. At sea level, there is a bit of landscaping. Rough and not using irrigation as this is a place with extreme limits on water. Lulu explained that most of this stuff is non-native and that there is great encouragement for people to remove the invasive species and plant endemic plants.
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| The Darwin Research Station |
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| I am not sure what this is But it sure looks like a Boy Scout with a cell phone |
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| The sex is determined by the temperature that the eggs are kept at incubation. |
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| Each island has a different gene pool They retrieve the eggs, incubate and return for rewilding. |
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| At 6 months they are about the size of a differ plate and they are ready for release |
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| These are the tiny babies. About the size of your hand |
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| These are the saddleback tortoise The name of the islands comes from "galope" or gallop. There is a type of saddle called galope. |
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| We then bussed up to the top of the world to Los Gemelos |
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| Not craters (inside of a cone) But rather sink holes formed where a bubble in the magma forms a crater, that collapses inward with erosion. |
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| Tiny flowers |
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| The vegetation gets lush as one gets higher in elevation. |
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| These reminded me of rock roses. Non native according to Lulu |
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| More non natives. |
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| Our next stops (yes plural) were the lava tubes I admit I didn't go on the part where one has to crawl part of the way. |
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| I didn't even go on the staircase side. I was getting to the limit of my energy and we hadn't even had lunch yet. |
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| The tortoises here have free range Note that the barbed wire is high enough for an adult to get under easily. |
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| Another non native beautiful plant |
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| Our next stop was at Rancho Pimicias |
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| A bathroom stop (don't laugh, pit stops were far and few between) We ordered our lunches, then off for a small hike while the food was prepared |
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| While most of the Galapagos is park, this is privately owned land What they can do with the land is very restricted. |
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| The paths we walked are tortoise trail This is their place. |
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| They spend feeding time up in the hills going down to the beaches to lay eggs |
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| The key to this conservation work is to make it possible for the people that live here to make more profit from having the tortoise than from removing them. |
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| These guys coat themselves with mud to keep cool |
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| And as always, there is poop |
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| There is a display about the size of a living room that I would love to share with some of you |
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| I really didn't understand how the inside of a tortoise works This displays give a good glimpse at how the bones fit. |
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| We could touch the plates of a shell |
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| The shell is a giant bone like structure. |
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| Over that there is material, much like a finger nail, or horse hoof. The one on display is highly polished |
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| Our luncheon was fabulous I did not drink a beer as I knew there was lots more walking. I think Rancho Primicias was my favorite part of the trip. |
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| After lunch, shopping. We went to the sox shop Lulu suggested (Ecuadorian made goods) That is the shop in the background. |
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| The proprietor suggested we walk on the the next shop to see a common occurrence in Puerto Ayora. Remember the 6 foot rule? |
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| Such a short time, I could not photo enough of the street art. It is everywhere, and beautiful. |
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