El Chato is a
reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz, where giant tortoises can be observed in the wild.
Males are almost twice the size of females
which have to support weights of 200kg once getting mounted.
The park authorities try to stop the spreading
of introduced trees like the cedar, which were planted by the colonists
as a valuable wood. Dead cedar tree stumps bear witness to that effort.
Heliotrope plants are common in the Santa Cruz
Highlands.
A small lagoon near
the reserve is completely covered by red algae.
Pintails and tortoises take advantage of the
lagoons water.
Santa Cruz boasts of 39 known lava tunnels or
caves.
The one found
on the farm near El Chato has a length of more than 2 km.
View to the Pacific ocean over agricultural land near Santa Rosa.
