Funny Guys

This morning (yes I am actually going to try to post on the same day that we went on an excursion) we went ashore on the south side of Santa Cruz Island to visit some Giant Tortoises.

They aren’t yet migrating from mountain to sea but we did see seven of them at the reserve and a few more on the side of the road coming and going. It is a reserve but the tortoises are not confined to the property.  They come and go at will. The guide was explaining the criteria for true ecotourism in that the relationship should not only benefit the tourists and the industry but also the animals, the flora and fauna. In this case, the property contains guest houses and a coffee farm and also supports the free passage of the tortoises across the land.

I will not bore you with lots of pictures that all look pretty much the same. (Maybe to other tortoises they are glaringly unique but to me they all look the same wrinkly, old guys.) But a couple of them follow.

But before that, the guide was also discussing what makes for a good or bad species of something that is introduced into an ecosystem. For instance farmers brought plantains and bananas and papayas etc for food to survive and now all of those fruits have to be sourced locally for the tourists. They cannot be imported. They are controlled and not invasive and provide income for the human population of the island.  Contrast that to blackberry bushes which are very invasive and appear to be impossible to contain or remove.  He suggested that he has the solution to getting rid of the Blackberries but that no one wanted to hear his idea.  He said that he would simply introduce iPhones.  Bad dump bump. (Tap tap tap. Is this thing still working? Be sure to tip your waitresses.)