Galapagos islands

Tower Island and the Birds

Tower Island in the Galapagos is nick-named the Islands of Birds or Bird Island for the millions of birds who call it home. We were lucky, as it was mating season for the masked boobies, blue footed boobies, and frigate birds.

We spent a great deal of time watching the frigate birds as their mating ritual is quite spectacular. The male inflates a pouch below his neck which looks like a huge red valentine to attract his mate. The female can sometimes be pretty choosy and dance around the male for some time before deciding this is the love of her life. After watching one couple for some time, when I left the female still hadn’t made up her mind but she was warming up a bit.

We hiked up Phillips Steps to a plateau. It was a fairly rugged climb and I was glad I was  in pretty good shape. The terrain on the top was rocky.

Boobies were mating all over the area. In addition storm petrels and swallow tail gulls were flying about. Boobies have an intricate mating ritual and they are a lot of fun to watch.

It’s interesting how certain animals inhabit certain islands in the Galapagos. That is nice for the visitor as one can concentrate on one or two animals at a time and not all of them at once. It was a new adventure, island and different animals each day. It was a fabulous trip!

 

Floreana no doubt was named because of its abundant flora. As we hiked, our guide  told us, “Interestingly enough you’ll notice all the flowers on the island are either white or yellow.  That is because only one variety of bee does all the pollinating.”

We hiked a sandy path through lush vegetation. Our destination was a brackish lagoon, home to over a 1000 flamingos. We were told, “You’ll notice all the birds are on the far side of the lagoon away from any trespassers. They don’t like anything taller than they are so you need to squat while you watch them.”    We spent a considerable time watching them.

Leaving the lagoon we hiked over some rather rough terrain to Flour Beach. It was flour

not flower. Why? The beach was a fine white powder-like sand. The beach is appropriately named. The snow white sand was quite a contrast to the brown sandy beach we landed on, yet we were on the same island. A turtle breeding ground,.prevented us from swimming at that beach.   The beach was also home to thousands of hermit crabs. It was fun to watch the little crabs scamper about and then disappear into a hole.

We went ashore at Post Office Bay. Years ago sailors would leave addressed letters in a mailbox there. They also would remove any letters addressed to their destination. When they arrived in port they would stamp and mail the letters they had taken. The custom continues today. We were encouraged to take any letters  addressed to our home town to mail them on our return home.

Every day in the Galapagos was a new adventure and each day seemed to be better than the day before. It is an unusual place and a unique vacation spot--real eco-tourism!

ELEPHANT RESEARCH CENTER

                             All About Elephants 

While in Amboseli we visited the Elephant Research Center one afternoon. In 1972 Cynthia Moss established the Center to do the most comprehensive study of elephants ever done.

            Her palm tree oasis included four sleeping tents, a dining tent, kitchen, shower, and outhouse. Two maintenance men and three research aids were employed as full time residents in this oasis. Ms. Moss continues to head up the program.

            During a lecture an aide told us, “Droughts in 1976 and 1984 killed many elephants. The reserve now has a population of 830 identified and named elephants. About fifteen elephant babies are born each year.

            “At birth a baby weighs on average 260 pounds and stands three feet tall. The gestation period is 22 months. A baby elephant is born with two sets of teeth. Over its lifetime the elephant has several sets of teeth, the sixth set coming in at about age 40 will last 20-25 years. Eventually when the elephant can no longer eat he dies and his average life span is 60-65 years.”

            Male elephants mature at about 14 years and at that point he leaves the family. Tusks appear at about 2-2 ½ years. A family is led by the matriarch of the herd, not by a male as is mistakenly and commonly believed. Males socialize together. Babies stay with the mother. When you see a lone elephant it is usually a young male who has left the family and who has not yet linked up with others.

            A female elephant goes into estrus (fertile) only 4-6 days every four years! A male comes into musth once a year and not all males are in musth at the same time. However, a male may be sexually active even at times when he is not is musth. He is fertile when in musth and the time is definitely marked as he dribbles urine and secretes a smelly fluid from a gland behind the ear. The body hormone changes also gives him a distinctive walk.

            Adult elephants eat 300 pounds of food a day often traveling 20 Kilometers (12 miles).  An adult male weighs 12,000 pounds; a female half of that. Elephants walk in a straight line like playing follow the leader, as many animals do, especially when migrating. Their paths across the plains are 12-14 inches wide. Sometimes people think these paths are tire tracks.

I said to my son, “When you think of the size of these animals it is amazing they leave such a small track/ path.”

This was an interesting visit and I certainly learned a lot about elephants I did not know.