Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Days of the Iguanas



They were everywhere. In the early morning, on the pristine sand of the beach, one could see their trails, the deeper narrow groove left by the tail and the fine filigree drawn by their claws.


An inhabitant of our hotel has come out of its dwelling at the base of an enormous concrete column to enjoy the morning sun, as part of its daily ritual. Good morning, sunshine!


Almost unbelievably all these are youngsters. I’ve just found out from Wikipedia that adult males can reach 1.5 meters in length. These black iguanas (Ctenosaura similis) are listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest lizards on Earth.


Sweet sad dinosaur…


A warrior pose – just before eating some of the white beads produced by a dwarf palm tree. Fruit or flowers?


An Indiana Jones setting… What secret door will you open or what deathly trap will you trigger if you lean onto this mysterious head?


The silent guardians of the stones are watching…

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those iguanas are great. So cute! Man, to see one in the wild in person!

Also, I liked your "Indiana Jones caption".

Welcome back :)

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Those pictures are awesome! How amazing that you could take such close pictures of them. Hope you had a great time and welcome back!

Sarah Hina said...

So glad you're back, Vesper! We missed you. :) (Where is this, btw?)

These photos are fabulous. The little beasties really do recall a more primeval time. The warrior pose was my favorite. Did you see them move? They look like they'd be so slow, but I'm sure that's deceptive.

Hope you had a great trip!!

Jon M said...

Ace pics! Just stumbled back after my own sporadic blogging break, glad you had fun!

BernardL said...

Very nice pictorial.

Vesper said...

Thanks, Paul! Yeah, I love them! You could get pretty close to them, if you moved slowly enough so that they didn't feel menaced. But I guess the ones who live in touristic areas are used to people... :-)

Thank you, Ello! I'm glad you like the pictures. I had a great time but it's also good to be back. :-)

Sarah, thank you, and I missed you! :-)
This was in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera, about 60 miles south of Cancun.
I was surprised because they were quite quick to disappear into a hole or a crack in the rocks, but I've never seen one really run.

Thanks, Jon! Glad you liked them and glad you stumbled back... :-)

Thank you, Bernard! :-)

Scott said...

Thanks for the comment over at my blog, which has been woefully under-maintained as of late. As for these photos, I'm convinced that I have to take my kids to see all this. My oldest goes bananas over small lizards; these would blow his mind. Me too to be honest!

Bernita said...

Marvellous photos.
Am glad you're back.
Hope you are refreshed and ready to delight us with more of your lovely prose.

Unknown said...

In which country were you?

Unknown said...

You're back! Wonderful!
Loved your iguana shots - fiercesome looking beasts!
Hugs and xxx

Vesper said...

Scott, I know how difficult it is to "maintain" work, family, writing, and a blog, all at the same time... quite often it's impossible... :-) You should definitely take your kids to see all that. It's wonderful.

Bernita, thank you! I'm very glad you liked the photos. I'm not so sure about the "ready" part... now I feel the pressure! :-) :-) :-) But, you're not to blame; your words just echo my daily stress... :-)

Ropi, it was Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, at the Caribbean Sea.

Thank you, Vanilla! Fiercesome looking they are - ironic, huh? Except for the very young who might eat an insect or two, they are vegetarians.
I'm happy you stopped by...
xoxoxo

Leigh Russell said...

I thought you were joking until I saw the first photo. If you invented a fantastic creature, you couldn't come up with something so bizarre.

Vesper said...

Leigh, often I find nature to be much more imaginative than the wildest imagination... Aren't they some cute things? :-)