Utah Tortoises

It’s February in St. George, Utah, snow is on the mountains, and I’m hiking in tortoise country with about 40 other tortoise nerds. We’re here for the Desert Tortoise Council symposium, and early arrivers like me are rewarded with a field trip.

Jamestown, Saint Helena

Islands, Tortoise

On the Island of Saint Helena

The world’s most well-known living tortoise, Jonathan, is also one of the world’s most remote — living on a volcanic island a thousand miles off the coast of Africa.

Sleeping Aldabra giant tortoise.

Tortoise, Writing

Why Tortoises? Why Now?

“When did you realize you that this was something that you were meant to write?” a friend asked. “Was there one thing that flipped the switch for you?”

Pinnacle Rock, Bartolomé Island

Galápagos tortoise, Tortoise

Melville in the Galapagos

“What other bodily being possesses such a citadel wherein to resist the assaults of Time?” That’s Herman Melville talking about tortoises. In 10 vignettes he paints a portrait of the Galapagos Islands, and the tortoise is a recurring character.