Galapagos day 2

8 pm local time.
Today we explored the so called highland of the highlands Santa Cruz.While only a few thousand feet high the vegetation changes markedly in short altitude steps, presumably reflecting rainfall. The island is a shield volcano, a gently sloped basalt volcano made from very fluid basalt. The archipelego is very young, no more than 5 M years so younger than the Dunedin volcanics. So the plant and animal communities all arrived here relatively recently, and being very isolated at over 1,000 km from the mainland they have not experienced any interbreeding with mainland populations and have developed their own unique local forms. So its a world unlike any other, in terms of what is here and how it has evolved since arrival.
We started at the top in lichen and moss covered trees, a stunted forest on virtually no soils just rock, the canopy being about 4-5 m high. In it are large sink holes, a couple of hundred metres wide and maybee 100 deep, where the roof has collapsed as larva drained below them, through larva tunnels. Now they are very rich in plants and bird life. We moved lower down the island and saw some of the known larva tunnels, some several kilometres long. They wind underground down towards the sea, from underground sources towards the cap of the mountain. We walked for a while in some, they are broad, smooth walled tunnels about 6m wide and high. As larva drained form thje molten areas under eruption, they gradually cooled until only a network of tunnels drained. They emptied, leaving the tunnels behind and only known where they break the surface and have been found.
We had a guide and went looking for giant tortoises in the wild, with great success finding 7. A memorable experience to come across these colossal animals in the wild. We were walking in dry forest of slender trees, reasonably open. Often you would hear the animals before seeing them, they move about with an audible thump not to mention the cracking of vegetation under their feet. On the first occasion I presumed there were people ahead of us but two male tortoises were pushing each other around in a slow motion shove contest, territorial apparently. We sat down and waited as they approached us, with their slow unsteady gait. They breath audibly, deeply and slowly not unlike our good friend Darth Vader in Star Wars. They were quite intimidating from a seated position and virtually were on top of us before they stopped, and looked. One had moved on but the other approached us and stayed. The beady eye of a giant tortoise on you is quite something, they definitely look at you. Seated it doesnt concern them but if we stood up or moved too much it would exhale in a loud breath, their version I suppose of a hiss. The guide had some passion fruit and dropped them in front. The tortoise ate them with relish and huffed passion fruit breath on us. Up close the animal seems to be from the dawn of time, with its deep laboured breath, dinosaur like head, watchful eyes and deliberate movement. We sat entranced but also considering what to do if it decided to tread onto us! But they are more observant than that and we saw a number more wandering, feeding and in one case wallowing in a mud pool. I have photographed them trying to catch the ridiculousness of a a huge tortoise living in a dry woodland. They summarise the place well its as if some kids designed it and made everything the wrong size and threw in a few oddities such as iguanas the same colour as the rocks, browsing on seaweed at the wave edges.
The highlands were full of interest but its the coastal margin that is most recognisable to us, having seen images of a barren land with its bird and reptile life. The huge cacti are another sight we cannot get over and this afternoon did a longish walk on a good pathway through one of these forests, a deep jumble of black larva boulders and a prickly scrub cover that you wouldnt want to venture into, punctuated by these surprising and dramatic prickly pear cacti,the size of a medium tree in some instances. We reached a beach and at its rocky corner it was dripping with marine iguanas enjoying the sun, climbing into heaps of several and spread legged in the heat. We didnt, but you could poke them before they would have shown any concern. We have found the same with the bird life being so curioous and unafraid. Today we had several instances of seeing a new bird, going all quite, getting the camera going click click, then the bird does the exact opposite expected and flies in and sits right in front of you, obviously curious. A very engaging and delightful experience to be treated so trustingly. More tomorrow we have a treat in store and are sailing to an small island clogged with sea bird life.
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