Bartolome Island -- Part 1
Early Morning Tortugas and Bartolome Views
up and in the dingy at 5:45 ... just light, and i was wondering if we would see anything this 'late' ... we walked from one beach through the mangroves to another beach ... seeing turtle tracks ... and actually saw a female in the process of finishing up her nest, flinging sand vigorously .... WoW ... how cool is THIS !
we left her to finish and walked the other way down the beach and saw familiar tracks ...
where we found another female doing the same ... busy morning for the tortugas ....
this photo gives you an idea of just how LARGE of a whole she makes ....what a lot of work!!!! ....
a nest that had been destroyed .... beetles, rats, crabs, or possibly another turtle digging a nest ...
we left her and walked to the end of the beach and watched the sun rise... the time on this photo was 6:22 .... great way to start the day ! ....
we looked back and saw the second one heading for the sea ....
she was moving slowly, taking breaks, resting her head on the sand, between crawling towards the sea ...
but at the end she found a last bit of strength to sprint into the sea ....
after watching her, we ran to the other female who had also started her journey back to the sea ...
same situation ...and both returned safely to the sea ..... yeahhhhhhh
Washington said that, (contrary to what i'd read), the females DO eat in between egg laying sessions .... so correction on that fact ... makes me feel better too :)
he also said females mate with many many many males, .... and i learned that they store each set of fertilized eggs separately. they can keep these eggs for years, and do not necessarily lay them all in one year ...
here are some clips of what we saw. i noticed that neither of these females struggled back to the sea the way that the one on Isabela did ... that was heartbreaking to watch ... these two seemed to have a little more energy ... possibly because it was light and they were late ......... ?
we returned to the boat for breakfast, and left promptly for our 'walking tour' up to the top of the Island of Bartolome ....
we were already at our 'dry landing' by 8:15 ! ... here we could see the remainder of what was once a volcano .... only the top of the caldera is left ...
it's a beautiful view from there ... the waters are crystal clear and turquoise ...
you can see the nice wooden walkway up to the top in the background ..... and the Lava Cactus, which is one of the first plants that is able to take hold in the lava many many years after the volcano erupts ....
this is another plant that establishes itself on a lava flow ....
when a volcano erupts there is the central vent; but there are also many smaller vents, like veins, that explode out the sides of the volcano, making smaller calderas and craters ... Washington had a name for them, but i can't recall it... online they call them 'flank vents' .....this is one of them ... with some lichens and other small plants beginning to grow inside of it ....
at the summit we had a beautiful clear day ... this is undoubtedly the most photographed scenic view in all of the Galapagos ... and you are seeing it here too :) ...
we are able to see the rest of Bartolome Island jutting out in front of us, then the Island of Santiago, .....
there were several rest stops and viewing platforms on the way up ... here you can see more 'flank vents' and their remains ...
i believe the small island in the back of the photo is Rabida, which we will visit on our last day ...
the islands of North Seymour, Baltra, and Santa Cruz are also visible out there, ..... somewhere :) ....
the 'pointy' rock behind me on the right, is the famous 'Pinnacle' ... it was larger, but during WWII, the soldiers used it for target practice for their bombs ....
and
the beach on the left is the beach where we watched the Sea Turtles laying their eggs just a few hours earlier ...
here is a photo from the top, of that caldera where we started climbing ...
another thing i liked about this Cruise was that i never felt 'rushed' .... we spent lots of time on our tours .... for instance, time for 'little boys' trying to compose a photo making it look like they were jumping over the volcano :) ....
snorkeling, however, is a different story; but then there is never enough time for snorkeling in my book :)
here is a short video of the panorama ...
Part 2:
Long :) Snorkel, *Penguin*, and Lava Walk
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