....... first, i forgot to mention that 2 MORE volunteers arrived this weekend: girls from Belgium and Austria. ....like we need 2 more people in the kitchen !!! ...although it's nice to have the 'non-group' membership increase :)
Land Tour Part 1 - Volcano and Tortoises
3 taxis arrived at 8:30 to take us on our Land Tour. it was a beautiful morning, but by the time we got in the taxi it started to drizzle. our first stop was El Junco, an extinct volcano whose rain-filled crater is filled with fresh water. it is the largest body of fresh water in all of the Galapagos Island Chain. it is 900 feet in diameter but only 9 feet deep. the FrigateBird comes to these waters to clens the salt from it's feathers, since it does not have a gland to oil itself. it is known for pirating food from other birds. the male inflates it's throat pouch to bright red, to attract a female. they produce only one egg. the chick is dependent upon the parents for food for a year or more, even though they can fly at 5-6 months. this long dependency period means they can raise one chick every 2 years.
so we arrive at El Junco and we are engulfed in a cloud. the view is supposed to be nice from here .. but ...
there is a nice walk-way to climb up to the top, about 15min ...
the endemic Miconia bush has been seriously depleated, but the National Park Service has been successful in reintroducing the species here ...
the lake was in the clouds as well, so we did not hike around it and didn't spend much time here ...
our next stop was the Tortoise Breeding Center, which i was fortunate to be able to visit on Fri ... but we got to spend more time and see the Visitor Center with a tortoise at the entry for good PR ....
a group of mature tortoises in good physical condition were brought here in July 2005 from their natural home in the northern end of the island. it is believed there were more than 100,000 tortoises on this island alone; there are now only 2,800. there are 11 different species of Galapagos tortoises, 3 other species are now extinct ...
huh? ... you talkin about me ?
this particular species' shell is kind of 'open' at the head, and a very long neck, to faciitate it's eating higher up on the trees ....
notice the tortoises in the pond ... they cannot regulate their body temperature, so need to have a pond to cool off in
i learned something new at the 'nursery' this time ... in the wild, after the eggs are laid, the nest is covered with sand, urine, and excrement. when they hatch, the must dig through this hard earth. it will take them 20-40 days to do this. at this time they cannot eat or drink, but survive on the nutrients of the yolk sac, which they carry attached to their stomachs. here at the Breeding Center, when the tortoises lay their eggs they are dug up and incubated for 90-120 days, then kept in a dark room, to imitate what would happen in the wild. then they are weighed and measured each month. by their 5th year they can be returned to their natural habitat.
here are some of the babies still in a protective enclosures, #56 and #59 ....
and a few in the nursery garden, with the 8yr old in middle on the left; and you can see different sizes in the foreground ...
this guy is Numero Uno ...
this guy was eating ... very very very slowly !
next up Land Tour - Part 2 takes you to Puerto Chino Beach ...
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