Galapagos Giant Tortoises, continued

About 25,000 wild tortoises still live on the Galapagos islands today.  In the late 1950s, conservation efforts began with the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation. 

As our day in the camping site draws to a close, we head to the dining area.  Dining at our camp site, like sleeping, is not roughing it.

Dining Tent

In a well lit and comfortable tent, the chef has a full dinner ready for us. We relax by the fireplace in the lounge, enjoy each other’s company and the bar. And after dinner, guide Roberto entertains us for a while.  Definitely not roughing it. 

In the morning, after breakfast, we have more time to visit with the tortoises.

 

No matter how many times I look at these photos, the wonder remains: at the animals’ survival, adaptation, and size.

The tortoises’ main sources of nutrition are grasses, cactus pads and other reachable native vegetation. They drink large quantities of water when they can and store that water in their bladders for up to a year.  Because their level of activity depends on the temperature and how much food is available, that storage capability is the key to their survival.

I notice the ground under several of the tortoises, like the one above, shows no signs of vegetation.  It appears that since they don’t move much,  eventually the growth beneath them stops.  And when they get hungry, dinner is just a few inches away.

Giant tortoises breed in the warmer season.  Our guides tell us that males competing for a mate will stand tall (that’s a relative term here), extend their necks as much as possible, and face-off with mouths open.  The ‘big guy’ wins and the smaller one retreats.  We didn’t see any doing that. 

Tortoises move slowly: the fastest time on record is roughly twenty-five feet a minute. They rest as much as sixteen hours a day.  Whether the two below are resting or perhaps preparing for (or recovering from) another activity, I don’t know.

After mating, in the cooler season, the female tortoises lay their eggs.  With their hind legs, they dig holes (in a relatively dry area) and drop eggs that will take up to six months to hatch. Here we see the adults; no signs of eggs or young.

We tear ourselves away from the tortoises to explore the lava caves in the area.  These lava ‘tubes’ generally form when a layer of rock hardens above flowing lava.  The molten rock inside keeps moving, creating a tunnel. 

I don’t go very far before I spot an owl.

I apologize for the grainy photo, but I choose not to use a flash.  If he’d wanted light, he wouldn’t be in a tunnel. I admit that as I selected photos for this post, at first I couldn't tell just what that fuzzy image was. 

I also have to confess that saying ‘we explore the lava caves’ is…not quite true.  The photo below shows you about how much exploring I do.  I’m not fond of small, dark spaces; I’ll never be a spelunker. I take a few photos of my more daring friends before they descend, and then I retreat.

While they explore dark enclosed spaces, I visit with some more tortoises.

When we were getting to know iguanas, I learned that Sally Lightfoot crabs help groom iguanas by feasting on dead algae and parasites.  

Some finch species have developed a similar symbiotic relationship with the tortoises. The birds consume ticks that hide in the skin creases or on their shells. The birds often hop and dance to indicate feeding time has arrived, and the tortoise cooperatively stands and stretches, offering up a meal.

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Next: 

A Few Human Touches:  School, Lava Java, and an elegant hotel.