Due to their large size, the Galápagos tortoises are very slow-moving creatures. They have been observed to walk at a speed of 0.3 km/h (0.2 mph). They travel mostly in the early morning or late afternoon between resting and grazing areas. On the larger and more humid islands, these tortoises seasonally migrate between low elevations, which become grassy plains in the wet season, and meadowed areas of higher elevation in the dry season. These ...
same routes have been used for many generations, creating well-defined paths through the undergrowth known as "tortoise highways". Galápagos tortoises sometimes rest in mud wallows or rain-formed pools. Some individuals like to sleep in a snug depression in the earth or brush called a "pallet". When local tortoises use the same pallet sites, such as on Volcán Alcedo, this forms small, sandy pits by which you can tell if tortoises were there. Less