More Iguanas!!

We only have three more days until the end of the cruise, but I try not think about it!  I know I keep saying this, but I love seeing all my adult friends and family, especially after being left with only my parents for eleven months.   Today, I went on a wonderful hike and saw two new quintessential Galapagos animals, and a magical turtle surprise.



Today, we did two hikes.  I thought the afternoon hike was the best of the trip so far!  During this hike we walked along a dirt path surrounded by several trees and plants.  I loved the extra shade, but it was not only me who was interested in cooling down.  During this hike we saw the mighty Galapagos Giant Tortoise.  I was able to get really close and got some amazing shots! 



I liked the turtles, but my favorite animal was by far the Land Iguana.  This giant lizard looks just like the Marine Iguana except that it is bigger and more yellow.  These are less common than the Marine Iguana and we did not find them in groups.  We saw about four or five Land Iguanas over our one hour hike.  Soon, the trail emerged back onto the beach where we had originally landed.


As were walking along the beach, my mom excitedly pointed at the sand.  Crawling into the ocean from the beach was a group of about fifty baby sea turtles.  Each one was about an inch and a half long. They used their little flippers to grab the sand and thrust themselves forward. I was glad that all of them made it into the ocean!  Efrain told us that many babies will die in the ocean and that only one percent of baby sea turtles make it to adulthood.  He was shocked to see this group of young turtles.  He told us that seeing this was so rare, he hadn’t ever seen it in twenty three years of guiding.  It really stunk that my camera battery was already dead.  However, I felt honored to see such an event, and wished the youngsters luck in the open sea! 

I keep thinking each day is better than the last, but today will always be in my memory as a spectacular Galapagos experience.   The tortoises were cool, and so were the Iguanas, but the baby turtles were just groovey!

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!