Cerro Dragon & Sombrero Chino
Unlike the few past days, today we had an overcast condition that promised to give us some relief while exploring the northwestern shore of the island of Santa Cruz. One doesn’t finish discovering the many and different ways natural selection works on this natural heritage for humanity. Everybody is astonished by the size of the spines on the prickly pear cactus and the convergent evolutionary forms such as those expressed by the ice plant and Batis sp., where one can see two plants with different ancestry looking alike. It was surprising to see large numbers of carpenter bees working upon the flowers of Waltheria sp. and also the high numbers of yellow warblers flitting around.
The hike couldn’t be more pleasant as we enjoyed the rather fascinating posture of a striated heron on the tip of a pole. A few minutes before leaving the place, we discovered that marine iguanas in this location are committed to gaining some weight. There was a young female iguana eating (with no urgency at all) a dead Sally lightfoot crab on the beach. This act of necrophagia was made only stranger by the fact that iguanas supposedly eat only algae. Under special circumstances however, these reptiles can change their diet and venture into almost whatever potential food is in front of them. No matter what, this has been a unique experience for this humbled naturalist in his twenty years guiding on the Galápagos.
In the afternoon our visit to Sombrero Chino was sensational. We had everything; kayaking, snorkeling, beach time, it was just great. While we were snorkeling, two penguins came and, not being happy with just ignoring us, they started to munch on tiny shrimp and some bait fish present there. They were a lot of fun and made all of us (naturalists included) experience joy.
Time will pass, new generations will come; but what we all received from the Galápagos today will last forever ever in our minds.
Unlike the few past days, today we had an overcast condition that promised to give us some relief while exploring the northwestern shore of the island of Santa Cruz. One doesn’t finish discovering the many and different ways natural selection works on this natural heritage for humanity. Everybody is astonished by the size of the spines on the prickly pear cactus and the convergent evolutionary forms such as those expressed by the ice plant and Batis sp., where one can see two plants with different ancestry looking alike. It was surprising to see large numbers of carpenter bees working upon the flowers of Waltheria sp. and also the high numbers of yellow warblers flitting around.
The hike couldn’t be more pleasant as we enjoyed the rather fascinating posture of a striated heron on the tip of a pole. A few minutes before leaving the place, we discovered that marine iguanas in this location are committed to gaining some weight. There was a young female iguana eating (with no urgency at all) a dead Sally lightfoot crab on the beach. This act of necrophagia was made only stranger by the fact that iguanas supposedly eat only algae. Under special circumstances however, these reptiles can change their diet and venture into almost whatever potential food is in front of them. No matter what, this has been a unique experience for this humbled naturalist in his twenty years guiding on the Galápagos.
In the afternoon our visit to Sombrero Chino was sensational. We had everything; kayaking, snorkeling, beach time, it was just great. While we were snorkeling, two penguins came and, not being happy with just ignoring us, they started to munch on tiny shrimp and some bait fish present there. They were a lot of fun and made all of us (naturalists included) experience joy.
Time will pass, new generations will come; but what we all received from the Galápagos today will last forever ever in our minds.
