I hope this tortoise video works!
www.mtlaurelschools.org/mbmovie2
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Here at last!
After a long day on airplanes and at airports, we finally made it to the Galapagos Islands! We arrived in Ecuador around 11:00 P.M. on Tuesday night, got a few hours sleep, and then boarded a flight to the islands.
Our plane touched down on the island of Baltra by noon on Wednesday. Baltra looks like a desert. We saw a few finches flying here and there, but not too much of anything else. The United States used Baltra as a military base during WWII to keep a watch over the Panama Canal. Rumor has it, the marine iguanas on the island were used as target practice. There are no more iguanas on Baltra today. We gathered our luggage and left the airstrip.
A bus took us to a ferry to get to our first destination, the island of Santa Cruz. As we crossed the water, we saw our first frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, pelicans, and more! Our long journey was worth the wait! The boobies were diving into the water head first for their meals, and the sea lions were playing near the dock. The frigate birds soared high in the air, but there was no trace of the red skin fold on the males’ throats. They only expand this red, balloon-like throat pouch when they are trying to attract a mate. I am not sure if it is mating season for the frigates, but I sure hope so!
We boarded another bus and headed to the highlands of Santa Cruz. It had been arranged for us to visit a center that teaches the locals about sustainable living. You may have read about sustainable living or heard the term on the news. It is basically the ability to live without depleting our resources (water, energy, etc.) and ruining our environment. The center is open to teachers, students, farmers, fishermen, and anyone else who wants to learn how to live sustainability. They also teach about organic agriculture, invasive species, habitat restoration, and more. Sustainable living is not a topic that only islanders need to learn about; it is an extremely important global issue. The center’s vision is to promote harmony between nature and people and to create a model that can be used worldwide.
After our discussions, we took a hike. Guess what we ran into? The Galapagos tortoise! We saw one after the other. They are huge animals! In all, we saw at least a dozen of them. I put together a video for you. I hope Internet connection is good enough to upload the clip. If not, I'll try again at the next island I visit. Stay tuned!
Our plane touched down on the island of Baltra by noon on Wednesday. Baltra looks like a desert. We saw a few finches flying here and there, but not too much of anything else. The United States used Baltra as a military base during WWII to keep a watch over the Panama Canal. Rumor has it, the marine iguanas on the island were used as target practice. There are no more iguanas on Baltra today. We gathered our luggage and left the airstrip.
A bus took us to a ferry to get to our first destination, the island of Santa Cruz. As we crossed the water, we saw our first frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, pelicans, and more! Our long journey was worth the wait! The boobies were diving into the water head first for their meals, and the sea lions were playing near the dock. The frigate birds soared high in the air, but there was no trace of the red skin fold on the males’ throats. They only expand this red, balloon-like throat pouch when they are trying to attract a mate. I am not sure if it is mating season for the frigates, but I sure hope so!
We boarded another bus and headed to the highlands of Santa Cruz. It had been arranged for us to visit a center that teaches the locals about sustainable living. You may have read about sustainable living or heard the term on the news. It is basically the ability to live without depleting our resources (water, energy, etc.) and ruining our environment. The center is open to teachers, students, farmers, fishermen, and anyone else who wants to learn how to live sustainability. They also teach about organic agriculture, invasive species, habitat restoration, and more. Sustainable living is not a topic that only islanders need to learn about; it is an extremely important global issue. The center’s vision is to promote harmony between nature and people and to create a model that can be used worldwide.
After our discussions, we took a hike. Guess what we ran into? The Galapagos tortoise! We saw one after the other. They are huge animals! In all, we saw at least a dozen of them. I put together a video for you. I hope Internet connection is good enough to upload the clip. If not, I'll try again at the next island I visit. Stay tuned!
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