Tortoises, giant tortoises! Synonymous with the Galapagos. There are only a few types, Domed (most of the ones pictured) and Sadleback. They can grow to an enormous size, and in places litter the landscape.
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| Not a tortoise, but you get the scale! |
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| Saddleback Tortoise. Our guide had never seen one on this island before so we were very lucky. |
Some baby tortoises. We went to a breeding sanctuary to see them.
Iguanas. Also synonymous with the Galapagos. There are a number of sub-species, the main different types are 'land' and 'marine', and there is a rare pink one on one of the islands that we didn't see. The land based ones eat only plants, liking cactus and flowers, as you can see in the videos below!
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| Iguana poo. Fresh. Sticky and smelly. |
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| Photographing Iguana |
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| Iguana ina tree. Tasty flowers. |
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| Om, nom, nom. |
And now - see him in action!
This guy was going to do anything to get some cactus, including all the iguana-batics you could imagine
This guy was hilarious, but tenacious. Do watch right to the end.
Marine Iguana feed on algae and seaweed and can stay under water for significant lengths of time, as discovered by Darwin himself who apparently tied one to a rock and lowered it into the sea on a ope for 2 hours. Who knew he was a sadistic bastard?!?!?!
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| Stealth Iguana! |
Iguanas are not the only lizards on the Galapagos. These little cuties (yes, they are dark coloured and unique to the Galapagos) are Lava Lizards!
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| This little guy was having a meal off of the dead skin on a land iguana |
Jacinto, our guide, wanted to show us the small scorpions that live on the island, and checked under a few rocks to find one. Then this little guy spotted it and was not about to let a free breakfast escape!
Sally Lightfoot Crabs were pretty much everywhere. The young are dark, almost black, and each time they shed their shells they get more and more colorful. This possibly counts as life beneath the waves, but they were more visible on land!
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| I think the flies were licking the salt off the crab |
Hermit crabs also probably count as life below the waves
Painted Locust. Just saw one, but it was very pretty.
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| Lava Cactus |
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| Lichen |
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| This plant seems to go blue where others would go brown at the edges. Was quite eye-catching. |
Lovely Martin, saves me having to do one!
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