Giant Tortoise Day and Other Iconic Pix

We visit the giant tortoises for which the archipelago is named on the island of Santa Cruz. Only four islands in the Galapagos are inhabited by humans, and Santa Cruz Island is home to about 20,000 people. The tortoises roam freely in a huge nature preserve in the highlands.

Our previous days have all been volcanic deserts and coastal wanderings. Today we zodiac to the pier and board a van with a naturalist head for the tropical (rainy) highlands. From the van, I start snapping pictures of road-side tortugas. (Spanish has one word for turtle, tortoise and terrapins, which is much easier to type.) I eventually delete all those blurry shots because we are able to walk among them later.

Don’t fret. He’s yawning. Tortugas don’t have ears. They can’t hear us approach no matter how loud we are. They feel us, however, if we stomp around. Our goal is to not make them retract into their shells.
The preserve loans us rain boots for the expedition.
Portrait mode is awesome!
Side eye from this Tortuga.

In other activities on other days, we encounter more Blue Footed Boobies, more zodiac rides and more fine dining.

Portrait mode again. Donna and a chocolate martini.
Martha and I cook our own pork sirloins on a hot, sizzling stone.
John plays Captain during the tour of the bridge.

Hasta mañana, quizás.

5 Replies to “Giant Tortoise Day and Other Iconic Pix”

  1. You got some great shots Terri. The yawning tortuga was !!! We really enjoyed the preserve too.
    And one can never get enough boobies!

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