Pictures from our fifteenth day on the Galápagos islands.
Sunrise of the last day on the ship
Juvenile bird
Hymanthopus? I can't tell.
Oystercatcher watching us tourists
Las Bachas
The green turtles have already left their nesting grounds
A shipwreck on the beach the green turtles use as nesting grounds
What a dreadful sign of our times.
A lonesome tree in the morning sun
The local rangers have already made sure nobody steps on the turtle nests
One of the famous finches
Behind the beach, a lagoon
Another day on the Galápagos islands
Guess why we picked the Semilla Verde hotel!
Can you spot the turtle?
Doggo friend
The Semilla Verde dog is tired
Claudia's magic touch
Semilla Verde dog is about to faint for joy
The garden around the hotel is beautiful and big
The Scalesia trees of Santa Cruz
Soooo many trees!
We started counting the local residents!
On the first day, we counted 14 of them.
They are everywhere!
The hotel has a few ponds for the turtles to enjoy
Notice the bananas!
There are a ton of banana trees at the far end of the property.
Also turtles, of course
Monarch butterfly
Apparently they spread on the islands after the introduction of milkweed.
Small trails crisscross the property
Monarch butterfly
A banana plantation, in a way
Scalesia trees
Somewhere up there, Monarch butterflies
We started looking for animals
Nothing to see but wonderful greenery
Moss colonizing the trees, I guess?
Giant turtle blocking the trail
Giant turtle attempting to leave the trail
Amazingly, they can crawl over these small stone walls.
We reached the far end
Did you spot the flowering banana?
The banana flower is HUGE!
More greenery
Monarch butterfly
More trails
And in the middle of the property, a small stone hill
And a stone throne
Another finch!
Looks like a papaya tree
I'm ready for some butterfly pictures!
Wonderful pink flowers
Where are the butterflies‽
We spotted traces of turtle activity!
Another butterfly!
The sun is starting to set
Alex and the camera…
Lucky me, I had bought a new lense just before we went on this trip!
Epiphytes
That is, plants growing on other plants.
I love these butterflies!
Butterfly landing!
Butterfly chilling
And another finch!
Maybe certhidea olivacea?
Sunlight up above
Shadows down below
At the Semilla Verde, they don't need lawn mowers
The giant turtle love the grass
They push themselves one small step forward and then they eat everything within reach (which is not a lot).
When you're close, you can hear them breathe!
Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!
The lawn mower is still busy
