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San CristóbalDay 6 - 30th July 2013 |
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Part 1 - Laguna el Junco
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A trip around the Island
We started off looking at the locally grown fruits and delicate wildflowers.
Hibiscus...
We started off looking at the locally grown fruits and delicate wildflowers.
Hibiscus...
Multicoloured Lantana...
A rather less delicate Banana flower...
A Yellow Paper Wasp nest at the tomb of Manuel Julian Cobos...
Cattle and their Egrets in the mist as we travelled higher up to the lagoon...
Laguna el Junco
A flooded crater - the largest and one of the only permanent areas of freshwater in the whole of the Galapagos...
The mist was constantly rolling in and out...
Frigate birds don't have an oil gland to cleanse and proof their feathers and therefore need freshwater to clean themselves after they have been at sea...
A flooded crater - the largest and one of the only permanent areas of freshwater in the whole of the Galapagos...
The mist was constantly rolling in and out...
Frigate birds don't have an oil gland to cleanse and proof their feathers and therefore need freshwater to clean themselves after they have been at sea...
As
there is little freshwater elsewhere - the Frigate Birds come from all
over the archipelago to clean themselves in this lake...
Once
they've doused themselves in the water, they undertake elaborate
shaking routines to complete the cleaning and drying - frequently
flying upside down or apparently just plummeting from the sky. This
seems so odd as they usually glide so gracefully...
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Regaining some composure before flying off...
La Galapaguera Tortoise Breeding Station
This gave us our first sight of giant Galapagos Tortoises...
A bit more bashful...
I was particularly impressed with their feet and how they rarely walked on them as such, it was often a dragging movement...
Galapagos Flycatcher...
Up to
this point we'd seen lone tortoises resting or slowly moving, but there
was a small group under some trees who were more animated...
Up on his feet and on a mission...
A much smaller one in a pen with others the same age - happily munching on poisonous (to humans) little apples...
Each was numbered. Number 22 was heading off to bathe, whereas the front chap was heading to join some others for lunch...
Tucking in...
At this
age (2-ish) they're still vulnerable to cats, dogs, rats, etc and only
get released when they're about 5 years old and their shells have
hardened...
A finch cracking a seed...
Miche and one of the tortoises near the entrance...
