Tortoises......
Galapagos means tortoises. These islands are famous for seeing them in the wild if one
is lucky. They basically live in
the highlands & eat vegetation.
Most people wouldn’t guess that there was another use for them during
the time of sea expeditions before the Panama Canal was built & sailors had
to for months on end to reach their final destination or find fresh perishable
food to stock their galley’s. However, sailors used to eat them when they
sailed threw the islands. Scary, but it’s true. As quoted in Kurt Vonnegut book “Galapagos”:
As she had often told her students,
sailing ships bound out across the Pacific used to stop off in the Galapagos
Islands to capture defenseless tortoises, who could live on their backs without
food or water for months. They
were so slow and tame and huge and plentiful. Sailors would capsize them without fear of being bitten or
clawed. Then they would drag them down to the waiting longboats on the shore,
using the animals’ own useless suits of armor for sleds.
They would store them on their backs in
the dark, paying no further attention to them until it was time for them to be
eaten. The beauty of the tortoise
to the sailors was that they were fresh meat which did not have to be
refrigerated or eaten right away.
Flowers with morning mist |
Since I’m on a photo exhibition, I was issued an assignment
from the National Geographic Photographers. A) to take a photo with layers B)
take a photo that encompasses color in it. I really enjoyed talking with them & thanked them for
explaining tips that I’ve been struggling with to master. It’s not that I don’t
know what I’m doing cos I definitely do, it’s just that I’ve been struggling to
work my images into a “story” with a “beginning, middle & end” that you can
say “I get it” there’s some depth to it.
I guess it’s a lifelong love to find that, but it’s wonderful to
challenge myself & to see something new with changing my perspective. I quite enjoy listing to Mike & CT
reminders with photo tips now & then.
It’s just nice to have friendly reminder & to be shooting with
people who love photography as much as I do. Really having the opportunity to work that sexy shot is a
blessing!
Tortoise |
Land Iguana |
Darwin Lake |
Islabela has been the focus for a significant &
successful program in the ecological restoration of the islands that the
eradication of feral goats & donkeys.
I heard that there are still cats on the island that they are working to
get rid of. The program is the
first of its size that has been attempted on the island of that size. The flora
& fauna of the island are unique & were under serious threat especially
from the exploding population of goats.
The Isabela Project has been successful in paving the way to recovery
for the island.
Tagus Cove "graffiti" |
The afternoon was filled with a variety of actives once
again. I’m on an expedition, got
to keep busy right? I found myself
deep water snorkeling rather than kayaking. The ocean was a wee bit colder, oh
well, I’m in the Galapagos & the underwater world is amazing. I saw numerous schools of fishes some
had a very pretty deep florescent orange to them. Also, there were birds, numerous sea turtle, a sea lion,
beautiful corals & black starfish. I found myself on a hike as well to take advantage of the
beauty of the place threw the lens. The hike in Tagus Cove is beautiful, going up a steep step of
stairs before the trail levels off.
It’s beautiful once you get up high looking at panorama views of Darwin
Lake before getting to lookout site for one of the volcano’s of the islands lava
flow. A misty afternoon with just
enough light to take a few photos, another successful Galapagos day!