Santa Cruz and North Seymour
We woke up early today for a visit to the highlands of Santa Cruz. This place is the “other side of the coin” if we compare it with most of the visitor sites of the park. Here we disembarked in a small but lively town and spent a few hours back in civilization. However, the great excitement of this early visit was our search for giant tortoises in the wild. This morning we were reminded of how harsh nature can be and yet how wonderful her designs are which can cope with these conditions. We have had several years of drought and are now in the transition season. Hopefully we are heading into the rainy season but it has not rained yet. During all of 2005, we had no rain and the fresh water lagoon at El Chato is dry (see today’s photo).
As we drove across pastures and agricultural lands to the edge of the tortoise reserve, we began to see tortoises: we counted 11 before we parked the buses and began the hike. We encountered tortoises on the trail but most were around the dry flat mud that was once the lagoon. This is where the tortoise romances usually begin. After they mate, they migrate to the lower areas of the island to lay their eggs, and with some luck, two months later the new “tortuguitas” hatch. Because the lagoon is dry, and there is little vegetation, the tortoises may not be very successful with their reproduction this year.
In the midmorning, after we had enjoyed a breakfast buffet at the highland’s farm, and as we returned to the town of Puerto Ayora to shop, some misty rain, known as garua, fell and wet the dry vegetation. Will this year continue so extremely dry? Or, is the rain still coming although it is late? Whatever happens, it is these climatic changes and the natural harsh conditions that are the selective forces that shape the inhabitants of these islands.
We woke up early today for a visit to the highlands of Santa Cruz. This place is the “other side of the coin” if we compare it with most of the visitor sites of the park. Here we disembarked in a small but lively town and spent a few hours back in civilization. However, the great excitement of this early visit was our search for giant tortoises in the wild. This morning we were reminded of how harsh nature can be and yet how wonderful her designs are which can cope with these conditions. We have had several years of drought and are now in the transition season. Hopefully we are heading into the rainy season but it has not rained yet. During all of 2005, we had no rain and the fresh water lagoon at El Chato is dry (see today’s photo).
As we drove across pastures and agricultural lands to the edge of the tortoise reserve, we began to see tortoises: we counted 11 before we parked the buses and began the hike. We encountered tortoises on the trail but most were around the dry flat mud that was once the lagoon. This is where the tortoise romances usually begin. After they mate, they migrate to the lower areas of the island to lay their eggs, and with some luck, two months later the new “tortuguitas” hatch. Because the lagoon is dry, and there is little vegetation, the tortoises may not be very successful with their reproduction this year.
In the midmorning, after we had enjoyed a breakfast buffet at the highland’s farm, and as we returned to the town of Puerto Ayora to shop, some misty rain, known as garua, fell and wet the dry vegetation. Will this year continue so extremely dry? Or, is the rain still coming although it is late? Whatever happens, it is these climatic changes and the natural harsh conditions that are the selective forces that shape the inhabitants of these islands.
